Together We Stand
by AlwaysForgotten
Summary: After the destruction of the Factory, Robin and Amon flee for cover. Will they find peace or will something go wrong? Whatever happens...will they be able to handle it? Together they stand but..
1. These Thoughts

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Witch Hunter Robin...but if I did, I would make more episodes. Aha...  
_This is my first fanfic and the first time I've written anything. I don't know where this is going or how long it will be but I'm determined to stick it out until I get an end. Please read and review as I need something to go on but please be kind and constructive if you choose to give me any tips. Thank you. :)_

They had made it. They survived. Amon knew the Factory would come down but he wasn't worried. He knew he could get himself and Robin out, his main concern was what came next.

After everything they had learned, he knew...knew there was no going back. Whether he could go back to hunting witches or not wasn't clear to him. He couldn't fully accept the existence of witches but he couldn't fully accept being a hunter anymore either, especially not now that Robin was a permanent fixture in his life. Something told him that having her with him was enough to prevent him from hunting again despite orbo not being used anymore.

Orbo. Taken from witches...witches he had hunted. It was disgusting. No matter how cold he appeared to be, no matter how he felt about witches...he never would have done such a thing knowing what the result would be. He wasn't that cold...even he saw how twisted that was.

His mother was a seed and his father was a witch. That was all he knew of his father and all that seemed to matter about his mother most days. His father had left before he was born...afterall, it wasn't unlike him, he had done the same thing to his older half brother, Nagira. Nagira, however, had turned out alright and Amon figured that was due to him having at least one normal parent in his life.

Now, don't get him wrong, Amon loved his mother, he just didn't know if he could cope with her being a witch even now that years had passed. She had awakened right in front of his eyes, a witch, not a craft user. Things had gotten to be too much for her, something Amon realized later in life. Raising Amon alone had placed so much stress on her that finally, she snapped. Up until then, she had always treated him well...but after...it was like she was gone.

But now he had to deal with Robin. He didn't know how he was going to do it but he knew he would have to. Up until her, he was alone...how was he going to adjust to living with someone day in and day out, let alone her? She was 15, still a child and yet she was so mature but at the same time, pure and still curious.

She had changed him...in what way and how was still unknown to Amon but he could feel it. He had, afterall, disobeyed orders and interfered with her hunt twice. First, during the attack on her and Touko's apartment. He stopped her from running after those men...had he not, chances are, they would have gotten her and it would have been all over. He had paid for that one...Zaizen had beat him later that night, blow after blow...and he just took it. He felt he deserved it. Didn't he? Touko had been injured and that had been the hunt's only result...Robin got away because of him. Not quite what was planned.

The second time he interfered it was during the attack on the STNJ. He came in and found Robin on the floor, cornered by the men from Solomon...he had to act quick. He grabbed her hand and when he did, she looked up at him and they locked eyes. He saw such a strange combination of emotions in her eyes, anger, saddness, confusion, and fear were among them and he couldn't help but wonder for a split second if he had caused any of that fear...if she was afraid of him. "Follow me" was all he said and she was up off the floor tagging along behind him, her hand still in his.

On the way down she asked him about the hunt and Kate and...he answered. All the way down the stairwell he continued to talk like he never had before. Suddenly, he felt as though he had so much to say...and that if she were to ask him anything he would answer, his walls temporarily down.

He asked her to burn a whole through the wall, never intending to use it. No, it was a trick...he had to find another way to get her out. There was no way they could simply run out of the building and get away before they caught up...they'd have to cross the lawn and get over the fence before they opened fire. He had a better idea, one he had planned as soon as he had learned of the hunt from Father Juliano's confusing letter of confession. He turned to the well, knowing that was her way out. As she turned the other way to do as she was told, he pressed a button revealing the secret passage he would soon send her down.

He turned to see her standing before the hole she had created and felt a pang in his chest. What that pang was, at the time, he didn't know...nor was he ready to explore it yet. She asked him if everything he had told her meant that he saw her as a friend. The word "friend" caught him off guard. He had never thought about friends before nor had he ever called someone a friend. He had friends, just not what normal people would view as friends. No, he had them alright...the people he worked with. Sure, he didn't know much about them nor did they know much about him but working as a witch hunter creates a bond...you are the only ones who know what it is like to be a witch hunter, to come to work every day only to do a job most of the world didn't even know existed, to be alone in life, never getting too close because you have to be ready to go on a hunt at any given time. Even the lighter hunters had no one outside of work...for example, Sakaki, young and so full of life, wasn't like normal teens but he gave off a feel of normal. You could almost see him in high school, dating, goofing off...but no. Every hunter there was alone, he just gave off more of a feeling of it since he chose to be that way for quite some time now. Her saying it though..."friend"...she was his closest friend and yet he never told her anything nor did she ask for anything. She took him as he was...another pang.

He didn't answer that question, instead he went on about her hunt...he could hear his voice softening. She desperately ran to him, grabbing onto him to pull him towards the hole. Instead of running, he grabbed her and redirected her towards the well and helped her down it. He jumped down onto the landing, explaining to her to go to the place written on the piece of paper he was slipping into her hair, allowing his hand to linger there a bit longer than he should have. Should have...what should he have done? Was there anything really wrong with what he had done? He didn't do anything, right? All he did was pull her a bit closer...just a bit...close enough to feel her breath on his face. He removed his hand and pulled back, jumping out leaving her alone. He watched as she struggled to get to him...so desperate...what was that flash of emotion in her eyes? Her eyes...there were tears in her eyes...why? Another pang...he pushed her hand away from the button as she had almost hit it and he, somewhere deep inside of him, wished she had...so he could go with her...wait. No. He had to stay and find out what was going on...

For some reason, he couldn't let it like that...he had to say one more thing...and as he started to say something the well closed stopping his words. He was going to tell her that next time they met...hell, he didn't know what he was going to say. He had started to talk inspired by the hightened emotions flowing through him, through her...but he didn't even know what he was going to say. It was probably for the best that the well had closed he thought as he sat in yet another hotel room, the witch who was in his thoughts almost constantly, in the bathroom, soaking...a ritual she enjoyed. His head hurt, he couldn't think anymore or he would drive himself crazy...or hit on something he had been trying to push back, to avoid...yes, he thought, as he heard water lightly splashing in the bathroom...thinking was getting a bit dangerous.


	2. Headache Inducing Thoughts

_Alright, chapter two...I'm still trying to get the hang of this so hang on tight, I'll get it. -Laughs- _

On the other side of the bathroom door Robin was deep in her own thoughts. Lately they seemed to center on Amon and she knew why. She loved him. It was that simple. She had been instantly drawn to him the first time she laid eyes on him in Harry's. Now, she couldn't say it was love at first sight but her eyes definitely did turn to follow him around the corner. There was just something about him.

Living with him every day was a joy and a nightmare all at the same time. She had to find a way to keep her feelings locked away where he couldn't see them or it would make things even more awkward. But at the same time, being that close hurt. Not much had changed, he didn't talk more, didn't talk less. She felt closer in that she was with him every day, more than anyone else had ever been she was guessing but she wanted more. She wasn't necessarily looking for him to one day profess his undieing love for her but she wanted to feel even closer than she already did.

How ironic...raised to be a nun, she falls for the first guy she sees in a restuarant. A guy who ignored her for as long as he could, then was ordered to kill her...she knew it sounded like some crazy teen crush but she knew it wasn't just a crush. She wanted him to be happy, wanted to hold him, know he was okay...

She was going to start thinking about what had happened...the hunt, what he told her, how close he had gotten...but she realized that she didn't want to delve that far into it tonight so she let the drain down and got out of the bathtub, wrapping a towel around her slim form. She dried off as best as she could then slipped on a long, black T shirt. Since living with Amon she had to give up sleeping in the nude...no need to explain why.

As she left the bathroom she saw that Amon was already in bed, the lights off, only a slight outline of his body under the covers visible. She sighed inwardly and headed towards her bed knowing Amon probably wasn't asleep yet anyways. She tried to sleep, tried as quickly as she could knowing if she didn't she would be forced to think when she had avoided it when in the bathtub in the first place...40 minutes later and she was still laying there, eyes closed, wide awake...so..she thought.

Amon had saved her the day the STNJ was attacked and he had explained why but she never would have guessed she would be with him possibly for the rest of her life...unable to go anywhere without him, not that it was a terrible idea. She just felt kind of bad that the life he had before she came along was gone because of her...he didn't seem terribly happy but he wasn't constantly on the move, watching his back, unsure of what would happen next. No matter how unhappy he may have been, it had to have been better than his life now.

It had been a little over a month since the fall of the Factory and they had yet to make contact with anyone. Amon seemed to be even more cautious, only willing to stay in one place a few days so they had been to at least 7 different hotels. She wasn't sure why he seemed to be so tense but she figured it had something to do with Solomon and the fact that they had tried to hunt her in the first place...maybe he was unnerved by not having information. That had to have been it...she figured, at some point, when Amon's hightened emotions calmed, they would make contact with Nagira, the only one she assumed he felt safe to contact. She hoped it would be soon...

Nagira was easier for her to get along with, her relationship with him was less complicated. He was goofy, carefree, laid back, basically everything Amon wasn't. Being around him calmed her...he was like an older brother to her, she could even go as far to say that she loved him like family. She appreciated him taking her in and learned to trust him.

Thankfully, she didn't have to delve too far into her thoughts for her to get tired and she was happy for that, she had already tortured herself far too much with such thoughts. She soon fell asleep...but Amon wasn't asleep. He was laying in bed, just listening to her, knowing she wasn't asleep either...but then the sounds of her moving around softly stopped and he knew she had fallen asleep. He knew he shouldn't be listening to her that closely, paying her that much attention but he couldn't help it. It had been so long since he shared his life with someone and she intrigued him. She was like a complete mystery to him and he assumed he was like a complete mystery to her as well. He was tired of thinking about it already, his thoughts focus on her so much he was giving himself a headache again.

He decided, it was okay to contact Nagira now...he hadn't felt right before now, he wasn't sure why but he just wanted to wait, to let things cool down. Everything had happened so quickly, one minute he was watching Robin being hunted by HQ hunters, the next he was watching his brother getting bashed over the head with a gun, the next he was standing before Robin holding a gun, and the next he was running to get out of the Factory. Yes, things were just too much. Tomorrow he would talk to Nagira.

And with that thought, he rolled over and finally went to sleep.


	3. Seclusion

_Yeah, I know...the story hasn't really gone too far yet but I guess this is just one that starts out slow, remaining true to the essence of Witch Hunter Robin. -He he he...- It should pick up a bit in the next...remember, I just sit and type so none of this was planned out. -Smiles- I do, however, have some interestingideas...all tossing around in my head. Now to figure out which ones I want to use in this story and where to place them..._

The sun shone through the windows, the curtains doing nothing to keep it out, awaking Robin from her sleep. She sat up and rubbed at her eyes and upon looking around, she saw that, like usual, Amon was already up. The TV was on, the morning news on but muted so as not to wake her. She didn't see Amon which meant he was out getting them something to eat, something that had scared her the first time. He had forgotten to say where he was going, forgotten to leave a note, so she was worried something had happened. She later realized it was probably due to him not having to do such a thing before, who would he have left a note for before? He was alone, he moved alone, worried about no one but she soon adjusted to his morning absences although she still would have liked to have a note...for some odd reason...comfort maybe? No, a note alone wouldn't have comforted her, she still wouldn't have known if something had happened to him while he was gone so she'd just have to trust him and trust he'd be alright.

Her quiet thoughts were interrupted when she heard someone at the door. Her heart immediately began to pump faster but then she heard the sound of keys and began to calm. Amon walked in with a bag of food and quietly closed the door. Has that man always been so quiet? He left without making a sound, came in almost as quietly, and hardly ever spoke. Oh well, there was nothing she could do about it, it was just him. He placed the food on the table and started to get it out. Wordlessly, like usual, she got up and went to the table, sat, and waited for him to hand her her carton of food. He handed her her food and then took out his...sat...and ate...in silence.

Always silent. It had long lost its awkwardness because it was always present so it worked for them. He had taken a few bites when he realized he should tell her of what he had planned.

"We're going to see Nagira tonight", he said without looking at her. She looked up at him, startled at first that he had spoken and then at what he had said.

"Nagira?" she asked softly. "Yes, it's time we find out what's been going on since we left." he answered in his usual monotone. "We'll go later tonight when it's less likely that we'll be spotted."

Shaking her head yes in understanding and picking up her fork again, there ended the conversation. Short and right to the point...followed by silence yet again. Silence had gotten to be like a third person in their lives, a friend and sometimes an enemy but inseparable either way.

And so, the day passed slowly, them never leaving the solitary hotel room. Robin had taken to, yet again, watching TV. Robin wasn't much of a TV watcher so she rarely paid much attention to what was on, her mind focusing and then drifting away to no where. Amon had sat himself down at his laptop, Robin assumed, to read news articles.

She had been sitting still for about 45 minutes when she heard Amon shift...no, get up...it sounded as though he had simply shifted his sitting position. Always so quiet. He walked over to the bed on the right of Robin's, closest to the door, and sat. He then shifted himself so that he was half sitting up, half resting on the pillows and stared blankly at the TV. It was only 11:21am and she knew it was going to be a long day.

It was now 6:19pm and Robin was almost bored to tears. She watched TV, spaced out, walked back and forth between the window and the bed, and got on Amon's laptop a few times but inside she was screaming. Amon seemed calm...he laid down on his bed for a bit and then finally closed his eyes and appeared to be asleep or at least comfortable enough to lay still for several hours. How did that man do it?

Amon had been resting for about six hours when he decided to get up. He felt...oddly peaceful. Robin was so quiet that she made it easy for him to take a little cat nap. Well, more than a little cat nap but he was really relaxed...she hardly made a peep except for the times she had gotten up and moved around a bit but it wasn't enough to wake him up. He was just really aware of his surroundings, especially when they were so close, there was really no where for her to go.

He figured it was time to go. It was late enough and he could tell Robin was dieing to get out of the hotel.

"Get ready, we're leaving." he said as he sat up. He watched as Robin turned her head quickly towards him, her eyes lighting up. She nodded and proceeded to put her boots on as Amon did the same. After putting their coats and boots on, they headed out, Robin as excited as a small child. She was just glad she would be out of that stuffy hotel room. They made their way to Amon's car and got in, again, silence joining them in the back seat.

The hotel they had been staying in wasn't terribly far from Nagira's office so it only took them about 30 minutes to get there. Robin was just happy to see something other than the room...she kind of wanted to roll the window down and smell the fresh air, to feel it on her face. She would have but Amon never rolled the windows down or had music on. He just drove to wherever he was going in complete and stuffy silence. Her eyes glued to the window, she took in every detail she could. She no longer took that kind of freedom for granted.

They finally arrived at Nagira's, Amon parking a bit away from his office, for what reason, Robin didn't know. She figured he just didn't feel safe parking right out in front but she didn't know what parking a little down the street was going to do. She followed him out of the car, shrugging it off as him worrying too much...possibly...they were there to find out what was going on and then they would know if Amon was worrying too much, just enough, or not enough.

They made their way down the street, silence following behind them as usual. When they got to the door Amon knocked quietly and yet loud enough that Nagira would hear. They stood for a few minutes, Robin quietly hoping he was even home. They then heard footsteps, the door soon opening after they had stopped.

"Well, hey there, I knew you two weren't dead."


	4. Reunion

_Aye, moving a bit faster...just a bit. I think I've decided to keep this pace knowing I'll finish it, so no worries there. I like the smaller chapters, the ones that don't shove tons of things at you. It makes me feel comfortable, not speeding ahead to try and get into some action...this story will probably have filler chapters where there are discussions, thoughts, etc. building to something else. :) Don't worry though, this won't end up taking a year to finish and 100+ chapters...-Laughs-_

"Nagira" Robin said happily. Even though her voice was always so quiet, if you knew her, you could pick up on changes in the way she spoke. Amon could tell she was ecstatic even if she wasn't hopping up and down in joy.

She went to Nagira and threw her arms around him for a big bear hug, Nagira hugging back happy to see she was okay. Over her shoulder he couldn't resist looking to his brother out of the corner of his eye to see how he was reacting. Was he...glaring at him? Nagira had to hold back a chuckle seeing that.

He may not have spent a lot of time around his younger half brother but if you paid attention you could pick things up, he wasn't a total mystery. Nagira knew that Amon had feelings for Robin and it was kind of amusing. He was struggling to hold them back, never daring to think too much of where he stood with Robin, afraid he might stumble onto something that would complicate things even further. At the thought of Amon and Robin being alone together for only God knows how long, he couldn't hold back his chuckle anymore.

"What's so funny, Nagira?" Robin said softly.

"Ah, nothing kid. Come on in, I bet Amon's having a cow standing 'out in the open'." At this Robin gave a soft giggle because he was probably right. Amon did seem to be on edge, moving them around so much. Whatever it was that was bothering him, he felt he had to keep moving.

As they entered, Nagira caught Amon's less than happy face and figured his little joke had irritated him. Not that Nagira cared, he just found basically anything to do with Amon to be amusing.

"I thought you two might show up sometime. You wanna know what's going on right? You can sit right over there and we'll chat." Nagira said pointing to the couch and chair he and Robin had sat at while she was staying with him. Amon and Robin sat on the couch, actually quite close considering that Amon was usually the type to sit a ways away. Nagira made a mental note of this...they had gotten close enough that they were comfortable in each other's presence.

"Ah, what do ya wanna know?"

"How are things at the STNJ?" Amon asked, being the one to speak up as usual. Not that Robin didn't have anything to say or ask, she was just used to sitting back and letting Amon do most of the questioning.

"Well, they are obviously back to hunting minus the orbo. They have to kill the witches like the other branches now." Hearing that, Robin saddened a bit, her mouth forming a small frown. She didn't expect them to do anything else and it was better than the orbo but still...thinking about her friends killing them now...it scared her a bit. Not that she was afraid they'd hunt her, she just didn't like that it had to be done that way. Amon saw her frown but turned his attention back to Nagira.

"Is it safe for us now? Does Solomon want us for anything, questioning or..." He trailed off there knowing Nagira would get the rest.

"Hm, I'm not sure of what they want but it is safe to assume that they aren't just going to let you go, not knowing where you are or what you are doing. Remember, Solomon does a terrible job on keeping up with everything. One part is doing one thing while another is doing something else...something just doesn't feel right. It would seem you two caused quite an uprising with some. They don't feel you are safe to have around but keep in mind that so far, no one has called for your capture yet. Those are just some people pissed off that you two know so much...they just don't like ya."

"Still, I'd rather be safe than sorry. We still don't know what they'll decide to do so stepping out like we're in the clear wouldn't be safe."

"No, I suppose not. How about you two stay here for tonight and give me some time to get some information and some things together. I could also contact the STNJ and let them..."

"No" Amon interrupted, "It would be best if they didn't know. That way, if something does happen, they'll have nothing to hide from anyone who may try to question them."

At this, Robin turned to face Amon. "Amon, we can't even let them know we are alive?"

"No, they're safer being kept in the dark."

"But Amon..."

"Robin", Nagira cut in, seeing that Amon was getting a bit aggitated, "Let's let this be for now, we can discuss it later. How about you go up to your old room and settle in for the night?"

Reluctantly, Robin shook her head in agreement and got up to leave. As she did so, Amon couldn't help but wonder why she listened to Nagira so quickly when she would rather protest his orders...decisions. Decisions. He wasn't ordering her around...

He felt some odd feeling running through him but he couldn't quite place what it...

"So what have you two been doing?" Nagira's voice broke into Amon's thoughts.

"Hiding."

"From what? Nothing is coming, at least not yet."

"I had no reason to believe we were safe."

"Heh, I guess not but now what?"

"That's why we're here, to decide what comes next."

"No, I mean what are you going to do with the girl? You haven't been this close to someone for a long time now, let alone a 15 year old craft user." At this, he laughed, which only served to irritate Amon. What was he getting at?...

"I'll do just fine, just get me some information." And with that Amon got up to go.

"Hey, buddy, where do you think you are going? There is only one bed in that room of her's but if you want to..." Nagira smirked at that, hoping Amon would say something...eh, he couldn't help it, he had to pick on him, he was his little brother after all.

Amon half turned to him, glaring to which Nagira put his hands up, surrendering before he got his butt kicked. Amon was not in the mood.

"Okay okay, I was just kidding. You can have the couch, I'll get a blanket."


	5. What About Me

_Okay, I think I may have been a bit later with this one but it rained today so I fell asleep. :) Seeing this progressing in my mind, hopefully it will pick up (I think I said that before but I mean it this time. -Laughs-) in the next chapter. -Winks-_

Nagira scratched his head and yawned. It was about 2:45 in the morning and he was exhausted. He had been up all night looking into Amon and Robin's situation.

He wasn't taking any chances. While he seemed to be calm about it earlier, he was still worried. He found some...interesting...information. He had left his office about an hour after Amon and Robin had arrived to do some late night detective work, calling upon every contact he could find on such short notice. One of his contacts, Shin, a man of about 29, told him he heard some hunters were...eh..."missing" from Solomon. Missing. He didn't like that so he tried to check into it.

He didn't have a whole lot of luck as he dealt with contacts...not computers. Nagira was pretty good with them but this was straight up Michael shtick and he was getting desperate. He decided to go to bed and discuss things with Amon as soon as he woke up because without some help, he wasn't getting anywhere solid. He dragged himself over to the couch and flopped down on it, soon falling asleep.

"Wake up."

"Mmm.."

"Wake up."

"Go away..."

"Nagira, I don't have time for this. Get up."

Amon's voice broke through Nagira's peaceful sleep. Moaning, he sat up to see Amon standing by the couch waiting for him to get up. He looked to the clock on the wall to see that it was 7:15 in the morning.

"I was up late looking into things." Nagira groaned.

"What did you find?" Amon asked, getting right down to business. He wasn't waiting.

"Give me a minute to get some coffee, would ya? Geez..." Nagira said, standing up and stretching and then yawning again. He walked out of the room he had been in and went straight towards the coffee pot, Amon following him out and taking a seat on the couch. Nagira turned around to face Amon sipping a cup of coffee.

"Where's Robin?"

"In bed."

"You aren't going to wait for her?"

"No, I'll tell her later."

Nagira shook his head at this.

"What?" Amon asked.

"Nothing, nothing at all..."

"If you have something to say, say it."

"Well, I was just thinking...Robin probably likes to be in the know and you are keeping her out of it, treating her like a kid."

"She's 15, she is a kid."

Nagira laughed. "Yeah, technically but she's a damn smart one and mature to boot...I don't think she'll like being kept out of the loop like this but whatever you say." Nagira took a sip of his coffee and sat down on the chair and turned to Amon.

"Well, I found out that some Solomon hunters are supposed to be missing."

"Missing?"

"Yeah and not in the sense of 'missing and presumed dead', just missing like they got up and left. I figured that could mean something considering that hunters don't usually just go missing."

"What else did you find out?" Amon asked wanting to get to the bottom of things. There was no way in hell he was going to just sit there if hunters were coming for them.

"Nothing. I can't get anything from that piece of junk you call a computer...that isn't my area, Solomon is too closed up, my info comes from the grapevine. All I could get was that they aren't around which is why it might be smart to let Michael in on things even though you wanted to keep them in the dark about what's going on."

"No, I'll deal with it, I can find the information on my own."

"Alright but don't hold off on asking for help if you need it, you could end up getting yourself in a sticky situation."

Robin awoke at about 9:30, feeling relaxed and better about things but then again, it could have been because she woke up in Nagira's office and not a hotel room. As long Nagira was around, things weren't too bad as he lightened the mood. She got up and put her clothes on having taken them off the night before, finally able to sleep as she normally would. She saw Amon sitting on the couch with his laptop and went to him.

"Where's Nagira?" she asked.

"He went out to find more information." he said, not offering her anything else.

"Oh..." She felt he knew more but she didn't know how to go about asking him. She figured it would be best to sit and wait although it did bother her that he didn't trust her. She was his partner and he said she was his friend but he still didn't trust her with such things. She figured it had nothing to do with being a craft user or a witch or whatever it is she is but instead, it had to do with her age and him not trusting such things to anyone but himself. Hopefully, that would change.

Not knowing what else to do and now feeling awkward, she went to get a cup of coffee. She went back to where Amon was and not feeling comfortable enough to sit beside him, sat in the chair. Thankfully, Nagira chose then to return and Robin sighed inwardly.

"Ah, sleeping beauty is up. Hungry?" Nagira asked cheerily.

Robin shook her head and went to him, taking a carton of food he handed her.

"I thought you were looking for information." Amon said, stating it rather than asking.

"Well, I was but I couldn't get anything and the few contacts I have left are either not around or clueless so...did you find anything?"

"I found the names of several hunters that haven't shown up for a while, all of them having disappeared after the fall of the Factory."

"You don't think they are after..."

Robin, sitting back down on the chair, couldn't help but feel somewhat...stupid. Here she was, sitting and eating, being completely ignored even though this concerned her. Hell, it basically started with and focused on her. Had she not even come around, this wouldn't have been happening...they were after her and if they were after him it was because he was helping her, the least he could do was include her. Shaking those thoughts from her head immediately, she felt a bit guilty. She may have felt left out but he was giving his life to protect her...he was no longer a hunter and could very well be the hunted. That man could inspire so many contradicting feelings and thoughts within her that it was crazy...

"...you guys do you?"

"I think it is highly likely that they are. It isn't impossible that they are, Solomon isn't the best for keeping track of everything and everyone within it."

"What do we do?" Robin's quiet voice making both men turn to her.

Amon having no answer yet let Nagira field this one.

"Well, I would say you could stay here but I think my place isn't the best place to be if someone really is after you. I'm suspicious enough as it is, helping witches left and right out, so it would probably be best for you to split. I'm not sure if you should leave the area or Japan though."

"Leave Japan? Wouldn't it be best to stay and wait to see if someone really is after us? Leaving is a bit too much right now, isn't it?" Robin asked, finally feeling like she was involved.

"I suppose you are right, it would be better for us to stay here before making such a desperate move as to leave the country." Amon replied, making Robin turn from Nagira to him. They both locked eyes and for a split second, Amon's expression softened. Nagira caught this..."Aw, how cute, little brother has a crush" he thought.

"So, it's settled" Nagira said clapping his hands together and then rubbing them. "We find a place for you two to go and keep our eyes and ears open."

Shaking their heads yes, they agreed that that would be the next step.


	6. Enter The Fighter

_Mm, I can't seem to match my first chapter's word count. -Shrugs- I was going to continue on with this chapter and make it longer but I kept putting it off throughout the day. My head is killing me and it's seriously messing with my concentration. -Laughs-_

He walked down a darkened street in Tokyo, Japan, head bowed slightly, his mind on two people. They had to be eliminated, especially the female. If the male traveling with her decided to put up a fight, he would have to be taken down as well. Robin Sena and Amon of the Japanese division of Solomon had caused quite a mess a little over a month ago, being right in the middle of everything. All of the other hunters had gotten out alive but those two...they didn't show up afterwards, not alive, not dead. It was his belief, and the growing belief of others, that they were still alive.

Word was, that Robin Sena wasn't your typical witch. She was, supposedly, stronger and that's not all, no. She was the "Eve", she was to bring on an entire race of witches superior to that of humans. That much he had heard spoken of but the fine details were still hidden. No matter, if she was indeed the Eve, she should be eliminated, if not, one more witch's death would make no difference.

Upon reaching a dark building that looked abandoned, he knocked quietly on the door. The door then opened slightly and a pair of dark brown eyes could be seen.

"Ah, it's you Kaden, come in, I was getting worried."

"You needn't worry, Gabriel, I'm on time."

"Yes, I know sir, I was just worried."

The man named Kaden pushed past the younger man, not giving him a second glance. Kaden was a man of about 47, brown hair with grey here and there. He was tall and powerful, a hunter who had no time for triviality. He knew the job had to be done quickly as Solomon hadn't given out the order for a hunt or even a tracking of them...and those who thought that was a shaky plan sought to destroy them, wanting to make sure that they wouldn't pay for letting them live later. It was only a matter of time before Solomon would take action and they weren't sure they would see their side of things.

"Alec, how are things?" He asked the man sitting before him, covered in the darkness of the room. This man was to be their leader, the one who got them together, the one who stepped up first. He was about 26, younger than Kaden but still stronger. He was very intelligent and mature, a born leader. Kaden had no problem with following his orders.

"As good as can be expected. We need to get things going as soon as possible, we have yet to make a move. It's taking too long." He said in a smooth, young voice.

Looking around, Kaden saw several others. Alec, seeing Kaden's gaze shifting from person to person, began to speak.

"Ah, and the others. We have a relatively small number of hunters willing to help that I trust but they should do. Catherine, on my right..." as he said her name, Kaden nodded to her politely. She was a woman of about 45, with years of hunting experience. "Ebony, standing over by the wall..."he then looked to the young woman, who seemed to be about 23. "Hart on my left" to whom Kaden glanced "and Ryu, standing by Gabriel by the door..." Kaden also nodded to Ryu, who appeared to be in his early thirties.

Counting them in his head, he asked "Just seven of us?"

Nodding his head yes, Alec explained "The seven of us...we know these two shouldn't be left to live. We all are willing to give our lives to take them out and I trust each and every one of these people."

Kaden shook his head yes in understandingand continued, "Well, where do we stand?"

"We have an idea of where they are. Amon, the man she is traveling with...he has an older half brother named Shunji Nagira. This Nagira...he helps witches. He supposedly has quite a few contacts, it would only be logical that they went to him."

"So what do we do?"Kaden asked, waiting for some type of order.

"We hunt them. Gabriel, you'll be the first go, kill them. They should be no problem. Here is his brother's address."

"Yes sir." Gabriel said walking towards Alec to get Nagira's address. He bowed and then went straight for the door, determined to be the one to kill Robin and Amon.

"Alright, I'll see you two later." Nagira said as they walked outside to Amon's car.

Amon just nodded but Robin felt this strange...pain...in her chest. She didn't really want to leave Nagira again. She walked up to him and give him another big hug, trying not to cry.

"Hey kid, no tears alright? I'll see you again, I promise." Nagira smiled down at her, hiding the pain he was feeling as well. He loved Robin...and Amon. Amon was family and Robin was like family. But he had to let them go...he, however, did not let go of the hope that one day they would be free. The day when they could settle down and live a normal life...the day Amon felt safe enough to finally tell Robin how he felt so they could be together, both finally happy.

Releasing Robin and stepping back he caught his brother's eye. "You be careful now, no driving like a maniac." Amon just shook his head slightly and smiled...a small smile, just a slight upturning of the corners of his mouth. He then got in his car and waited for Robin to join him. Seeing this, Robin gave Nagira another small smile, then a wave, and got in the car as well.

As they pulled out, they never noticed the young man on a motorcycle parked in an alley, watching. As soon as Nagira went inside, Gabriel pulled out and followed Amon and Robin to wherever it was they were going.

"She doesn't look so tough and I bet that guy isn't as tough as he looks." Gabriel thought to himself. He followed them for about 35 minutes before...

"Someone is following us..." Amon said, his voice even more serious than usual. Robin tried to turn around to look but Amon reached out and pulled her back into her seat. "No, don't look..."

It was then that he decided to pull over. If the guy was really following them...hunting them...he would stop, if not, he would continue on. Anyways, now was a perfect time for him to attack...

_Like I first said, I wanted to continue but my headache won't let me. Anyways, new characters...yeah, they were a pain. First, I couldn't find the right names, I kept going through name after name...-Sighs- Kaden was hard...I didn't know if I liked it or not but at about 3:15 in the morning, the name thing had hung me up long enough and I was tired of it. -Laughs- _

Basically, they all have meanings but not all apply to the characters or have any real connections...most, at this point, are ironic names...you should pick up on them rather quickly.  
Alec means Protector of Men  
Gabriel means Hero of God  
Kaden means Fighter  
Hart means Deer or Stag  
Catherine means Pure, Virginal  
Ebony means Dark Strength  
Ryu means Dragon


	7. First Strike

"They're pulling over...they know I'm following them." Gabriel thought to himself. "No problem though, I can take them, I might as well just end it now." 

Parking away from them, along side of the road, Gabriel got up and slowly removed his helmet, placing it on his motorcycle. He then started walking slowly and confidently towards the car...

Inside, Amon got out his gun while Robin put her glasses on. Neither were really afraid, just cautious. They felt confident in themselves but they didn't know what this guy could do, nor did they know who he was. They, however, assumed that he was one of the "missing" Solomon hunters. Well, he wasn't missing anymore...

Getting out, keeping their eyes on the hunter, Amon coldly asked "Who are you? What do you want?" feeling he already knew the answer to the second question.

"Gabriel...not that it matters, I've come to hunt you." and with that, the wind picked up.

"His craft is wind." Robin said softly and yet strongly. Amon shot at Gabriel but to their surprise, a strong gust of wind appeared and blocked the bullet as though it were a wall. Robin then tried to set Gabriel on fire, trying to kill him rather than subdue him. Amon and Robin both understood that this situation did not warrant a capture.

Gabriel blocked Robin's fire so she threw more at him, harder and more determined to end it before anything could happen to either her or Amon. As he threw all he had at them, Robin threw everything she had at Gabriel. Seeing a chance to strike, Amon shot Gabriel in the leg, throwing his concentration off. The minute Gabriel looked down, Robin had him...nothing was left of him.

Looking at each other, neither felt particularly better about the battle having ended so easily. They figured he wasn't the last...They then quickly went back to the car and got in, not standing around to see if there were any more. Pulling out, Silence's presence was, again, felt.

Amon didn't know what to say...it was such a simple attack but that was confirmation that hunters were indeed after them. He didn't know what to do, for the first time since he was a child, he didn't know what to do. He wasn't afraid...he was worried. He had Robin with him so it wasn't just him running. No, it was him running to keep her safe, he was responsible for her now. He didn't know how many hunters were going to come after them, didn't know if Solomon would follow in and just give the order for their hunt...didn't know how strong they were. He then thought to call Nagira. Funny...he now ran to his older brother, going to him being the first thing he could think to do. He picked up his cell and dialed his number.

"We were just attacked."

"What? You just left not even an hour ago, how could you have been attacked?"

"Someone was following us, a hunter named Gabriel. I pulled over and he attacked. I need..."

"Is Robin okay? Are you?" Nagira interrupted.

"Yes, we're fine but I need..." Amon hesitated a bit before continuing on with his sentence, reluctant to ask for what he hadn't asked for in years. "...help. I need to find somewhere safe, we need to go into hiding so we can get things in order."

"Sure, go to a hotel and stay there, I can't come up with anything right now but I'll get right on it. Be careful." Nagira said.

"Yeah." Amon put his cell down and then concentrated on finding a hotel to stay at for the night, hoping Nagira could come up with something quick enough.

Two hours later and Gabriel hadn't called nor had he come back. "It shouldn't have taken that long...if they weren't there he would have come back or called. If he were following them he would have called by now as well..." Alec thought. Picking up the phone, he dialed Gabriel's cell number. He let it ring about six times before hanging up. He was dead. Alec knew it.

"Gabriel failed." He said emotionlessly to the others in the room.

"Maybe they're stronger than we thought." Catherine, the older female hunter stated rather than asked in a wise voice.

"No, Gabriel was foolish. He wasn't even gone for a whole day before he was eliminated. He was easy, foolish. We'll try again. Hart, you're up."

_Yeah, I know, shortest yet but I'm kind of jumpy...there are certain parts I want to get to really badly. But, to do that, I had to get through Gabriel and then...well, we gotta keep going. That was meant to be an easy hunt because I have an idea of how I want to use three hunters in particular that will make things more interesting...one I'm just dieing to get to. -Smiles- Don't worry though, I'm not going to conduct the other hunts the same way...short and boring. He he...like I said, three...at least...I love so I can't wait. -Winks-_

**I'd also like to thank those who have been reading and reviewing my story, you guys keep me wanting to write more. Thanks, I appreciate it. -Smiles-**


	8. Left Alone To Deal

Seeing a hotel and wanting to get settled into one place as quickly as possible, Amon pulled over. He looked over at Robin who had fallen asleep, calmed by the movement of the car, the quiet, and the coolness of the night. "Robin" he said softly, surprising even himself. "Robin" he again said, this time gently shaking the young girl. 

"Mm..where are we?" she asked.

"A hotel, come on, we need to get inside." and with that, he was up and out of the car, Robin following tiredly behind. He walked up to the desk with Robin lagging behind slightly, and rang the bell.

"How may I help you sir?" The young man happily asked.

"I need a room with two beds."

"Yes, one moment please."

Robin watched, half awake, half asleep as Amon paid for a hotel room, a question suddenly popping into her mind. How long could they keep this up? How much money could this cost him...guilt, again, struck hard.

"Come on." Amon said, walking ahead of her. She followed him, her desire to be closer to him growing even more as the thought that he was sacrificing his life for her, hit her yet again. Getting inside, Amon sat on the bed closest to the door and started to take his boots off.

"Amon?"

"Hm?"

"What are we going to do?" Robin asked, going to her bed and sitting down.

"Wait for Nagira to get back to us. Until then, we'll just have to deal with whatever comes our way." he replied, not looking up.

"But..." Robin's guilt getting the best of her, continued "...how long? How much will this cost you?" she finished, looking down.

Amon looked up, surprised by her question. "Is that what's worrying you? Money?"

"No, not just money...but...you're giving everything up to do this. I'm so sorry, Amon, I..."

"Robin" he interrupted, seeing tears forming in her eyes, that familiar pang in his chest coming back "You don't have to say you're sorry, I chose this."

Robin, shaking her head said "You chose a life where you'd have to run to stay alive? You gave up everything...even Touko." she said before she could stop herself. His eyes widened and fixed on her, hearing a small gasp of realization coming from her. She hadn't meant to say it...but she realized that she had.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought that up, it was rude of me."

It was now his turn to shake his head. "No, it's okay. I don't know how you knew but.."

"I saw you two walking together after we hunted that Chie girl, I was out that night, thinking." Robin said quietly.

"I didn't give her up...we broke up not long after that. It isn't imporant, it's in the past. Don't worry about money, I can afford it, that's no problem. I'm not giving up a life I loved, I'm giving up a lie. Through you, I learned not all witches are bad, that I can't hunt them all. Staying and pretending would have only caused more damage, I'm finally doing what is right now." he told her sincerely. She felt her heart warming up, knowing he had opened a little. Maybe this was the start of them becoming even closer, she thought as she smiled at him.

Hart wasn't sure of where he was going but he figured going to Amon's older brother's place was the best place to start. Arriving, he saw that the lights were off and that there were no cars around. No one was home. Well, they had to go somewhere, they couldn't simply drive around forever. Taking out his laptop, he started searching around for them in hotels. They wouldn't have had time to set up anything such as false identities, maybe he could still locate them.

"I'm going to take a bath, is that alright with you Amon?" Robin asked, standing by the bathroom door.

"Yes"

Nodding, Robin entered the bathroom to take a bath, something she always enjoyed.

Amon walked over to the table and sat with his laptop, intending to do a little searching himself. He went to work trying to figure out which hunters were missing but wasn't surprised when he couldn't find anything. Why would Solomon, a shady organization, put something like that up? They were covering up their absences. It didn't look like they were going to change, they were still hiding things, not only from each branch but from the "big wheels" too. They still hadn't straightened themselves out.

Sighing and then rubbing his temples, Amon leaned back in the chair, deciding to wait for Nagira unsure of what even he could come up with.

"Hm, found it." Hart said, smirking. "I knew they would be close, they wouldn't have anywhere to go and driving all night only to have no destination wouldn't have been smart of them." Closing his laptop, he started his car up and pulled out.

"I'm going to get us something to eat." Amon yelled into the bathroom so Robin could hear him.

"Alright." Robin called softly back. She heard the door shutting and knew he had left. She felt a bit uneasy with being there alone...naked...in a bath tub. She had gotten so used to him being there that depending upon him for everything was natural. She didn't realize how much she needed him until he left, even if only for a short while. While she was supposed to be so strong, she was still afraid and she wasn't sure if that was okay or not...wasn't she supposed to be strong in every way? She couldn't even get by on her own...

Sighing, she sunk down into the water, letting the warmth of it calm her.

Sitting outside, Hart looked up at the apartment room Amon and Robin were in. He wasn't sure if he should attack now or wait. Considering what happened to Gabriel, they were stronger than they had thought but how strong was the question. Hearing a door opening, he turned his gaze towards the entrance seeing...was that...Amon? He was leaving...he didn't see the girl with him so he figured she was still upstairs. So as not to look suspicious, Hart got out of his car and calmly walked in and headed straight for the desk. Amon glanced at him but didn't seem to give him a second thought.

"Fool" Hart thought to himself.

"Hello sir, how may I help you?" the same young man kindly asked.

Looking around, Hart saw that no one was around...Amon had left and everything was quiet.

"Yeah" Hart then pulled out a gun and shot the man in the head before he could even scream. The body fell behind the counter where no one would see it so he left it there. Putting his gun away, not caring if anyone heard the shot, afterall, it was late at night, he walked calmly to the elevator as though nothing had happened heading towards room 113.

Robin jerked up out of the water as the gun went off. She looked around and listened very carefully...she heard no other noises and figured it was just her imagination. She let the water down and then got out and dried off, putting a shirt on and exiting the bathroom, turning the light off behind her.

She heard a knock at the door and stopped in her tracks..."Amon?" she called.

"Room service."

"Room service?" she whispered to herself. "But Amon is getting something for us to eat, why would room service be here?" she thought to herself. "I'm being ridiculous, I should just answer the door." Walking to the door she called back, "I'm coming", reaching for the handle.

When she opened the door, she was greated by a young man who...was not wearing a uniform. Right away, she slammed the door shut, fear taking over. Hart stuck his foot in the door, not allowing her to close it.

"Aw, come on little bird, let me in." he said, shoving into the door knocking it open. Robin attacked him with her craft but...it didn't work.

"What?" she exclaimed, her eyes widening with fear...Amon was gone, she was all alone...

"Orbo...what?" he asked, laughing at her, "Did you think every last drop was gone?" he continued, pulling on a chain around his neck with a pendant full of orbo dangling from it.

She gasped at the site of it..."Now what? I don't even have my glasses..." she thought to herself, wishing Amon was still with her.

_  
Mm, I don't know about craft users...I'm going to have to think up some crafts for when I get to one so I apologize in advance if they get generic but don't hold your breath on me thinking up good ones. The good ones were used up in the show...-Pouts- He he he...anyways, the powers they possess shouldn't make or break this fanfic because it isn't about the crafts themselves so I'll see how the reviews go._


	9. Frantic

"Why are you doing this? Solomon isn't after us, you have no right to do this." 

"Solomon is being foolish. Letting you two go is a big mistake and only I and some others know that. You simply existing is wrong and I'm here to make it right."

"Why? I haven't done anything, what's your reason? My existing is wrong...how so?" she asked, trying to buy time and at the same time, trying to get somewhere with him.

"Didn't you hear me? You...you shouldn't even be alive. You're a witch, you're disgusting and dangerous to have around. You aren't needed nor are you wanted." he said coldly. The last part actually hurt her...despite it coming from an enemy...it hurt.

"Who are you?" a cold voice asked from behind followed by a click. Whipping around, he saw that Amon was standing in the doorway holding a gun. When had he arrived? He was so quiet...Robin found a new appreciation of how quiet that man could be.

"Hart...you must be Amon. I must advise you not to shoot, as you may have noticed I still have your little Robin cornered. You shoot, I shoot." he grinned.

Amon tensed at this, seeing orbo hanging around his neck. Looks like not everyone at HQ was against it...They were just standing there, all three too cautious to make a move, afraid of the outcome. He knew Robin couldn't use her craft because, chances were, it wouldn't work. Hart would then fire and possibly hit her...he needed to find a way to deal with the situation without risking her life...he'd have to shoot.

They could hear sirens coming...someone had called the cops, probably after he killed the clerk Hart figured. Grinning, Hart, still holding the gun at Robin, walking sideways, headed towards the door.

"Better let me go. The cops are coming...wouldn't want them finding a dead body, would you?" Walking past Amon, he gave another laugh and then ran down the hall towards the elevator. Amon turned and went out the door and took one shot hitting Hart in the back. Turning back to Robin he said "Hurry, we need to leave before the cops get here." Robin nodded and then ran to get her and Amon's things.

Great. That's all they needed. Leave it to the police to help and yet mess everything up all at the same time. They scared Hart away but they also scared Robin and Amon away. They were now criminals and now on an entirely different level. Before, they were criminals in the eyes of Solomon hunters, now it would be in the eyes of the law. They ran to the elevator avoiding Hart's body and got in. As soon as the doors opened on the bottom floor they were out and running as fast as they could to the car, Amon taking the keys out of his pocket as he went. They jumped in and pulled out only to see the cops arriving.

Seeing a car fleeing the scene, the cops chased after them, thinking they were the ones responsible. Amon, looking back saw them following with their lights flashing.

Laughing sarcastically inwardly, Amon thought "I never saw myself on this side of the law...and now, here I am in a high speed chase. Amazing."

"Robin, do you think you could throw up a wall to keep them from us?" Amon asked hoping the answer would be yes.

"I can try." she said putting her glasses on and turning around in her seat. She concentrated on her target real hard before firing away with her craft. Luckily, it worked. A giant wall of fire appeared in the middle of the road forcing the cops to stop their pursuit. Robin let loose a big sigh of relief and then turned around. "Her craft is growing." Amon thought. But this time...the thought of her getting stronger didn't worry him.

What that man had said...it stuck with her. "You...you shouldn't even be alive. You're a witch, you're disgusting and dangerous to have around. You aren't needed nor are you wanted." She could feel her chest tightening in pain...she wasn't needed, that was for sure. Up until she came to Japan she was practically alone and now, now people were afraid of her and wanted her dead. Was she wanted?...She looked to Amon out of the corner of her eye then straight ahead. Did he even want her around?

Looking over slightly, Amon caught Robin's sad expression...now what was wrong with her? They were okay, they had gotten out uninjured. That was the second hunter in one day, hell in several hours, to come after them and they had beaten them both. He thought she would have been happy. He couldn't figure this girl out...

Amon didn't want to stop in a hotel this time, figuring that had been their undoing this last time. Instead, he chose to drive. Just drive. He drove for hours, Silence sitting in the back seat. This time though, it wasn't there to make them uncomfortable. Hours passed and Amon's eyes started to itch. It had been the longest time since leaving Nagira's that they were left alone so he was at least grateful for that. Looking over to Robin again he saw that she had hardly moved. She was just sitting there, that same sad expression on her face. It was killing him, he had to know what was wrong. He decided to pull over. He couldn't keep driving like that, if more hunters were going to come there was nothing they could do. Hopefully, they would all be the same as the last two. Easy, although, this last one, Hart...he had made Amon rather nervous. He wasn't in complete control of the situation, they were in a nasty triangle and he hadn't liked it.

Seeing that they were pulling over, Robin looked to Amon with a questioning look on her face. Without even looking over at her, he knew she was looking at him wondering what was going on.

"Amon?"

"We may as well stop. If they are coming we can't keep running. We'll have to face them sooner or later."

Nodding her understanding she leaned her head against the cool window, sad and yet numb. So much had happened so quickly...those two hunters hadn't been hard but those two weren't the only ones that would come, she knew it.

Turning the car off, Amon leaned back in his seat thinking. Maybe what that hunter had said to her was getting to her? What he said had been pretty cold and it would have hit home for Robin.

"Robin."

"Hm?"

"What's wrong?"

Robin was surprised he'd even ask. He didn't usually show such...attention. That meant he had either been watching her or she was so sad that it practically radiated off of her in waves and didn't take much to detect.

"Nothing." she answered softly.

"There is something bothering you, I can tell...was it what that hunter said?"

Lifting her head off of the window, she looked to Amon, again, surprised that he had heard. Just how long had he been there?

"How do you know what he said? I thought you had left."

"I did" he answered simply. "But I saw him enter the hotel. I felt...strange.." no worried, his mind corrected him "...about him going in there and letting you alone. I suppose I hadn't figured anyone would be coming in that late besides us so I went back, thinking it wouldn't hurt to check up on you."

"Oh" was the only reply he got back. He wasn't done though, he wanted to know if what Hart had said hurt...

"Is that what's bugging you? What he said?"

"He said I wasn't needed...that I shouldn't be alive...that I wasn't even wanted." she told him sadly, turning to look back out of the window, tears clearly forming in her eyes.

"You're needed, Robin. You're the Eve, you clearly have a purpose in life and..." she looked to him when he kept on going past that. What was he going to say?

"And you're wanted. He only said those things to get to you." he finished, his voice going soft again...how many times had his voice gone soft like that without him wanting it to he wondered.

"I am?" she asked innocently.

"Yes. I believe I told you that you were a friend. I don't...have many friends. You're needed and wanted..." What was going on? There were alarms going off in his head...bad conversation, way too personal. What was he doing? His breathing picked up and his heart pumped faster.

"Thank you Amon, I needed that." she said, leaning towards him in her seat, shifting from her previous position of leaning against the window.

"I meant it." he said looking her straight in the eyes. "Wow...we're really close now, I can feel her breath on my face" he thought, his composure slipping. The alarms were going crazy in his head as he felt himself leaning in even closer. "Stop, stop, go back, rewind, what in the hell are you doing!" his mind screamed.

Robin's eyes widened and then...she felt his lips softly pressing against her's. She slowly closed her eyes and leaned into the kiss..."Is this really happening?" she thought. Amon was her first kiss...

It felt wonderful to finally show how he felt about Robin...but only for a few seconds. His mind immediately screamed "She is 15, you're 25, what are you doing? How can you give her what she needs? You couldn't even give Touko what she needed and she was a grown woman. How are you going to deal with this now?" His eyes snapped open and he pulled back quickly and apologized.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that." he looked down at his hands, too afraid...yeah, Amon, afraid...to look her in the eyes for fear of what he would see. Had he looked, he would have seen happiness, saddness, confusion, fear, and hope. Silence, laughing, joined them once again in the back seat, not planning on departing for quite some time...

_  
Aha, two chapters in one night. Sparky, I saw that you requested at least two so I pushed to get another one done...I don't know how many times I'll be able to do that but I saw an opening to do so. -Winks- And tank, you asked for Robin and Amon fluff so I hope you liked the ending. -Smiles-_

-Feels like she is forgetting something but is too hungry to think straight-


	10. Eerie Calm

They had been sitting in Amon's car for about 30 minutes when Amon braved a look at Robin. Instantly, he saw something he hadn't realized before. Her hair was wet and she only had a shirt on. "That's right, she had been bathing when I left." Guilt hit him for not having noticed earlier and then was followed by worry. They were outside in the middle of the night, in a cool car...she could get sick. He was still uncomfortable because of what had happened but he had to say something...she was just sitting there in the cold. 

"Robin" he said, trying not to sound mean but not too nice, "It's cold out, you should get dressed."

Looking over she could still see left over emotions in his eyes. At times, they betrayed his emotionless face by showing what he felt...it was rare but Robin was always happy inside when she saw it. "But Amon...how..." she started to say and then it hit him. She'd have to change right there, in his car...

"I'll go outside, you can change in the back." he said as he got out. She watched him go to the front of the car and turn his back so he couldn't see anything. Despite him having pulled away from her after kissing her, she couldn't help giggling quietly to herself. Maybe he really did feel that way about her but was just nervous? She wasn't giving up on him yet.

He heard the door open and then shut followed by another door opening and then shutting signifying her entering the back seat to change. He heard little scuffles inside of the car and was glad she was changing so she would be warm. One problem down. He heard the door open and shut again and then her voice saying "I'm done". As he turned around, he saw her crawling back into the front seat and shutting the door. He did the same and then they returned to complete silence. Amon was actually glad that he had asked her to change because that little break from the car cleared the air a little. His heart was still beating faster than usual but he was more comfortable.

Just as he thought that, his phone rang.

"Hello" he said into the phone, knowing it would be Nagira.

"How are things?"

"We were attacked."

"Yeah, I know that already, what about..."

"No, again." he replied, cutting his brother off.

"Again?" he asked surprised.

"Yes, another guy but we're in more trouble now. We were at a hotel when he attacked. Someone must have called the cops because they showed up and chased us but we got away with help from Robin's craft. Now, we're practically in the middle of nowhere."

"Well...geez..." Nagira said running a hand through his hair. "I've thought about this and I think it would be best if I come along."

"What?" Amon said evenly. He wasn't sure he liked that idea...

"Yeah, I could come along and help out. That way, you won't have to keep calling every time you get into a fix. It would be easier and..."

"You can't just leave everything behind to..."

"I can and I will. It would make things easier on you, I know that and besides, Robin is always so depressed when you're around Mr. Sunshine." he said chucking on the other end.

Amon saw no point in arguing so he just gave in. He may have been worried about what Nagira's presence could do to worsen things between he and Robin but he knew that he needed help. By giving in, he gained help without asking for it. Not too bad.

"Fine but how do you plan on finding us exactly?"

"Well, you were at a hotel when this hunter attacked right?"

"Yes"

"Which way did you go from there? Assuming you stayed on the same road and didn't make any turn offs."

Thinking back, Amon realized he had, indeed stayed on the same road. He gave Nagira the name of the hotel, told him which way they had went, turned off his cell, and leaned back deciding he couldn't do anything else, letting it all to Nagira.

Robin looked over at him, wondering what was going on. "That was Nagira?" she asked softly. Amon knew that she knew it was Nagira, that the question was more like "Well, what's going on?" in Robin talk.

"Yes, he'll be coming with us." and with that, he saw her perk up a bit. She may have been happy about it but he wasn't exactly thrilled. A little over three hours later, Robin had laid her head back down on the window, falling asleep and Amon held his head in his hand, leaning his elbow against the door of the car. He wasn't going to sleep anytime soon, no, both of them nodding off wouldn't be a good idea. His mind started to wander when he heard a tap on the window. Sitting up straight and turning his head quickly, he saw Nagira with a goofy grin on his face. He started the car up and pressed the button to roll his window down.

"Well, it's good to see that you two are still alive even after going through hell twice."

"Nagira" a soft voice said from inside the car. Ducking down, Nagira saw Robin smiling at him, the fact that she had been sleeping apparent to him. "Hey there little bird. How about you hop in the back and sleep while I sit up front?" Nodding her head, she got out and got in the back and laid down on the seat. Nagira got in the front seat and then turned to Amon as he began to speak.

"How did you get here?" he asked. Hearing something that sounded like a car from behind, he turned and looked out the window just in time to see Hana pull up.

"This is the last time you get me up this late for your late night illegal activities." Hana said to Nagira then turned around and peeled out back towards her home.

Laughing, Nagira said "Crazy, that one." Shaking his head, Amon pulled out.

"This is ridiculous." Kaden said to Alec. "Two hunters in under one day? What's going on?"

"Calm down Kaden, we just need a different approach. I have an idea." he said calmly. Kaden grinned, the look on Alec's face told him that he had something up his sleeve and that sending those two first was just him eliminating the weaker players on the team.

_Sparky, she knew because Nagira had said that hunters were missing, meaning not even Solomon knew where they were. They couldn't find the information online becauseSolomon didn't put it up in their records, not wanting to take any chances...they were covering themselves. They weren't doing anything to find them and they didn't know where they were...it was just something Nagira heard through the grapevine and relayed to Amon and Robin. She heard them discussing it, remember? About her wearing only a shirt, yeah, I realized that not long after I finished it and fixed it as you will have read. -Winks-_


	11. Antagonistic Blood Relation

They drove along quietly, this time, it being peaceful. Maybe having Nagira along wouldn't be so bad... 

"So, want me to drive?"

"No"

"Aw, come on, you've been on the move for how long now? Taking a break wouldn't kill ya." Nagira said looking over to his younger brother. "I'll drive us to a hotel and we can settle in, then we can go to an airport and get the hell out of here ASAP."

"That's what got us this last time. They found us through the hotel's records, it showed when we had arrived and what room we were staying in." Reaching into a bag of belongings Nagira had brought with him, he pulled out three folders. "Fake info, problem solved" he grinned. "He planned this" Amon thought to himself "He had them ready because he had planned on coming, he probably started setting it up right after we left" he assumed. Giving in, too tired to argue, Amon pulled off and switched places.

"We have everything all planned out. This time, we won't underestimate them. I've assigned someone else to their hunt, someone capable. This should be interesting." Alec grinned, looking to Kaden.

The newest hunter was standing out in the middle of the street, in front of the hotel Amon and Robin had attempted to stay at. They grabbed a bag that had been hanging from their hip and put their hand inside, grabbing a handful of red powder. Putting their hand out, they dropped the powder onto the road and watched as it lit up. It quickly lit on fire and made a path down the road, following where Amon, Robin, and Nagira had gone as though it were a map and someone was drawing out their course. Smirking, they then got into their car and drove off, following the path that only their eyes could see.

"Found a hotel, it's getting late and now that our names won't show up in the hotel's records, we should be fine. If not, that is ridiculous." Getting out, Amon saw that Robin was still asleep. He glanced at Nagira and saw that he was grinning, waiting to see what Amon would do. "Don't let my presence change anything, I'll just go on inside and get us a room." he laughed, heading in ahead of them. Sighing, hoping that this would be a longer stay than the last, he opened the door and gently shook Robin awake.

"Robin, we're here, it's safe now." Getting up and rubbing at her eyes, Robin realized she had a headache, probably from sleeping in the back seat of a car...

She got up, grabbed her things, and exited the car, Amon following close behind her. When he got inside, he saw Nagira waiting by the elevator and went to him.

"I got us two rooms connected, if you don't mind, saves money and gives us privacy." When he caught the look Amon was giving him he whispered so only Amon could hear "Don't worry, we're bunking in the same room...think I'd trust you in the same room with her, knowing how you feel?" He winked, laughing getting in the elevator, not giving Amon time to respond. Amon stood there for a minute, his eyes widening slightly in surprise, anger, and...embarrassment.

"You just gonna stand there all day waiting for another attack?" Nagira asked happily. Glaring, Amon joined him in the elevator, Robin following behind him never the wiser.

Finally getting to her room, Robin walked straight over to her bed falling on it, too lazy to change and fell asleep almost instantly. In the room next to her's, Amon and Nagira were setting their things down. Amon headed over to the window hoping against hope that no one else would come. This had been the strangest and craziest night of his life...and he wasn't wanting to repeat any of it.

"So" Nagira started sitting on one of the beds "What were you two doing before I got there? Took me a while."

Amon thought back to kissing Robin and mentally shook his head...don't say that.

"Nothing"

"Nothing? For some reason I got the impression that there was something..." Nagira grinned. "Does he ever stop grinning?" Amon thought to himself, as he turned to Nagira.

"Then you got the wrong impression." He answered.

"Aw, don't tell me you were making our dear little Robin less...pure..." Nagira teased.

Amon glared at Nagira, remembering the kiss they had shared, and blushed...just a little...but just a little goes a long way when it comes to Amon. The blush did not go unnoticed by Nagira.

"Well, I'm waiting for an answer." he asked seriously.

"What kind of ridiculous question is that?" Amon asked, getting angrier by the second.

"It isn't ridiculous. Look, if you think you are fooling me, you are sorely mistaken. I knew that you cared for her the minute she explained that you had sent her to me and why. You put yourself at risk to save her and then sent her to me, despite us not being terribly close. That was a desperate move you pulled, one you wouldn't have done had she not meant something to you. Then, as I got to know her, it only confirmed my belief that you loved her...she is perfect for you. So, you may as well just drop the 'I don't care' act because you'll only make things worse on yourself...I already know little bro." he finished leaning back on his elbow on the bed, watching his brother closely.

Amon stopped glaring as he heard Nagira's serious tone and sighed. "Why lie? He already knows, lieing will only make things worse. This way, he won't keep provoking me." he reasoned with himself.

"Fine. I admit it."

"Knew it. Well, I'm tired, I'm going to bed, worrying about you two plays a guy out." he said as he took off his shoes, jacket, and shirt crawling into his bed.

"That's it?" Amon asked his brother. He was sure he'd make fun of him or at least have something to say...

"Yeah, what did you expect me to say?" he asked as he watched Amon walk over to his bed and take off his shoes, jacket, and shirt as well.

Amon just shrugged and got into bed, turning the light by the bed off.

"I'll catch up to them eventually." the hunter thought as they continued to follow the fire path that would lead them to Robin and Amon.

_Amon may appear to be a bit off but I wanted it that way...I wanted him to change a bit over time, reacting to each character he meets. With Nagira, he won't be as uptight all of the time. Now, don't take that as "Amon will change so drastically that he'll seem like he is a completely normal guy" because he won't. Don't worry. He'll remain true to himself but he will have his moments because face it...if I keep him the same way exactly, this wouldn't be a romance. He he...-Winks-_


	12. Nothing More Than This

Robin yawned, sitting up, happy that they got through the rest of the night without any more attacks. Last night was horrible, how one gets attacked twice was beyond her. She threw her feet over the side of the bed and walked to the bathroom, intending to take a bath. 

On the other side of the wall, Amon was just waking up as well. Instead of sitting up, he just laid there thinking about what had happened between he and Nagira the night before. "Was it okay that I confessed?" he asked himself. Now he had to drive himself crazy over having told him..."Is he going to say anything? Pick at me?" He furrowed his eyebrows together, thinking, looking somewhat like a child would...he wasn't used to having his older brother around but he figured that the way he was feeling was what most men felt when dealing with their meddling older brother.

"Morning!" he heard Nagira say, stretching and yawning from his own bed. Groaning inwardly, Amon thought "Everything he does and says comes out comedically...is he ever serious?". "Mm, I'm hungry, how 'bout we get little bird up and grab something to eat from room service and veg for a bit?" He got up and grabbed the phone, ordering them pancakes before Amon even had the chance to answer. "I take it that wasn't a question then." Amon thought to himself, still laying flat on his back staring up at the ceiling.

Thirty minutes later and Amon was still laying in bed. Nagira's presence for some reason lightened even him up. The doorbell rang and Nagira got up to answer it. Without moving to see what was going on, Amon heard Nagira say "Ah, food, come and get it!" Closing his eyes and rasing one eyebrow up, he heard Nagira leave the room going in the direction of Robin's room, he assumed, to get her for breakfast.

Nagira walked into Robin's room seeing her exiting the bathroom with another long black T shirt on. When she saw him shirtless she blushed. Nagira held back a chuckle remembering that she was still young, and, before coming to Japan, was on the path to becoming a nun. "Food in our room" he said happily. Seeing her looking down at what she was wearing he added "Oh, and there is a robe in the bathroom, I assume, if you want to put it on over what you are wearing." Nodding, she headed back into the bathroom to grab the white robe the hotel had supplied.

As Amon laid there, it hit him rather quickly that he still had his shirt off. Looking down, he quickly sat up to put his shirt on...just in time to see Robin coming through the door. Their eyes met and both could feel themselves heating up in embarrassment. Robin quickly looked away as did Amon, Nagira standing still with his eyes wide trying not to laugh, yet again. "I'm going to have one hell of a time trying to contain my laughter when around these two." he thought, walking over to the table with the food on it, not saying anything. He figured he had put his brother through enough as it was...or at least for now, he didn't know how long he could hold out.

Throwing his shirt on as though nothing happened, he walked over to the table and sat down, grabbing some food. They ate in silence, as usual, but it felt...nice. The effect Nagira had on everything was amazing...he just made things seem...okay. After breakfast, Robin walked back into her room and changed into her dress. Walking back into Amon and Nagira's room, she saw that Nagira had sat himself on his bed and turned the TV on while Amon was relaxing in a chair by the window. It was then that Robin realized that she loved those two more than anything else in the world...and that she wanted very desperately to live in peace with both of them.

"Hey little bird, what's up with the face? Looks sad." Nagira said to Robin making her smile.

"Nothing, just thinking about how nice things are now." she said as she walked over to sit on the bed with Nagira finding a new comfort in being close to someone...even though he still had his shirt off.

"Glad to see a smile on that face of yours, you're way too young to be sad all the time."

Things had been quiet for a while, nothing but the TV and the occasional movement from Amon, Robin, or Nagira being heard. Nagira and Robin had laid down on the bed, watching TV while Amon got really comfortable just looking out the window...it was a nice day out. Looking over at Amon, Robin saw a contented look on his face, then looked out the window to see it was nice outside. She got up and walked over to Amon and asked "Mind if I open the window?" softly, smiling at him. Nodding his head, he watched as she opened it and then closed her eyes as fresh air poured in from outside.

Amon looked over at Nagira, not sure if he felt comfortable with him currently being in the roombecause...he wanted to ask Robin if she wanted to go for a walk. Normally, he would have emotionlessly asked and made it sound as though he thought she needed a break but didn't want her to go alone...but now, everything had changed. He had kissed her and then confessed his feelings for her to Nagira..."This is ridiculous. He knows, I may as well ask her...she looks like she wants out just as badly as I do."

"Would you like to go for a walk?" he finally asked her. Looking to him, seeing that he was still looking out the window, she quickly realized that he was trying to be discreet. "Sure" she replied, getting up to walk to the door. Amon got up as well and followed her to the door, glancing at Nagira to see if he was giving them yet another goofy look...he wasn't. He scrunched his eyebrows together a bit, not sure if he had even heard them or noticed that they had gotten up to go.

"Nagira?" he said, his voice back in its monotone.

"Hm?" Nagira asked as though he had been so focused on what was on the TV that he hadn't noticed them.

"We're going for a walk outside." he replied cautiously.

"Alright." he answered back, not taking his eyes off of the TV. Shaking his head slightly, Amon continued walking over to the door of the room, following Robin out. When Nagira heard the door shut, he couldn't help but smile to himself..."They're usually so tense...they need a little quiet time together."

Finally reaching the door of the hotel, Amon held the door open for Robin feeling oddly...happy. It must be the weather...

"Thank you" she replied softly, thankful that he hadn't pulled away from her completely after the "incident". She was worried that all the progress they had made would be erased and she' be back to square one. They started off walking around the building to the left, not really planning on where they would go. They got to a certain point where they both slowed and then turned so that they were heading out into the middle of the yard. They stopped, just standing there letting the air calm them.

Despite his feelings and thoughts at the time when he kissed her, he now felt as though it was right...and that he had overreacted. Turning to her, he felt he had to say something.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?" she asked without looking at him.

"For pulling away from you so quickly. I shouldn't have reacted that way." he explained honestly. The way she could make him act...so different from how he usually was...

"It's alright, I understand." she said, finally turning to look at him.

"No, I don't think you do...I hardly do." he said, leaning in. He slowly and gently kissed her, closing his eyes, this time, not planning on pulling back like before. She, too, closed her eyes, accepting his kiss, amazed at how gentle he could actually be. Slowly, he pulled back and turned to go, waiting for her to follow him back to the room. She gave him a small smile and followed him back, taking what had happened for what it was...a kiss. She wasn't going to push it, wasn't going to look too deep into it...she was just going to accept it, like she had him, happy that he had let her get that close.

Walking back into the room, Nagira looked to them and asked with his usual happiness, "How was the walk?"

_Well, if no one has guessed just yet, Amon and Nagira's relationship is one of my favorites. I can't help but make Nagira the comedic one setting it up so that Amon has to react to him when he isn't used to having a family member of any kind that close. Again, I'll say don't worry about Amon being off. I wanted this chapter to be lighter, to be a break because things that I have been waiting for are coming closer. I saw an oppportunity to focus a bit more on Nagira and Amon comedy and a chance to give each character a mental break...thus Amon acting the way he was. He was still, in essence, himself but he felt a bit better. Having big brother around to help and lighten the mood allowed him to chill for a bit. -Smiles- _

I also must say that I have a "job" coming up. Some big religious thing is going on down here and my Dad got me a job at a stand for a few days (I'm not religious, it's for my Dad's friend and it pays about $250 so why not?). It will probably be 12 hours a day for a few days so I won't be able to write much...it supposedly starts on Wednesday so I'm glad I've been able to get as much done as I have.


	13. Time To Go

"How are things going?" Alec asked ever calmly, sure this new hunt would do better. Hell, it already was going better. This new hunter wasn't dead. 

"Perfectly. I have a marvelous idea." came the calculating voice over the phone.

"Beautiful." Alec smirked hanging up the phone.

"So, I was thinking about this running idea and decided just going to the airport was ridiculous, I don't know what in the hell I was thinking." Nagira said, leaning back in a chair. "Yeah, so, here's what's what, I'm going to call around and get something going, it shouldn't take too long, I already have an idea and..."

"What's your idea?" Amon asked, not wanting to waste any time. The calm that had settled in his heart evaporated as he remembered he had no time for romance, he needed to get his head back in the right place and concentrate on Robin's safety first. He trusted his brother but he couldn't operate blindly, he needed something.

"I have a friend that helps witches too, not as good as me of course." Nagira winked at Robin at this, making her giggle. "I can call him and get something set up through him. Otherwise, we have no where to go, we'd just be jumping on a plane and taking off without anything planned. Now that we're calm and settled in somewhere we can think straight."

Amon nodded, he had to agree, his mind was clearer than it had been when first hearing Nagira's idea to go to the airport...he hadn't even asked where they were going to go but now that he had time to think, he realized how ridiculous and rash it was. He sat himself down in a chair across the table from Nagira and let his brother weave another of his shady webs, wishing everything had been set up before this. He knew it was a dumb thought, there was no way they could have anticipated a group of hunters trying to eliminate them without orders but he wanted to get on the move. Nagira's voice in the background was muffled, his mind was drifting away having nothing it wanted to chew on at the moment...

"And, we're set!" Nagira said sometime later, drawing Amon out of his lack of thoughts.

"What?" Amon asked in an uncharacteristic manner...it wasn't really the manner in which he asked but more that he had in the first place. Wasn't he listening?

"Eh, I have everything set up..." Nagira said giving Amon a strange look.

"Well?" Amon asked impatiently.

Shaking his head Nagira explained that he had contacted a friend who told him of someone that could help them. His contact told him that a man by the name of James in the United States could hide them. After getting his number and basic information, he was 36 and helped witches much in the same way Nagira did even though he didn't have a craft either, he called and set up a flight. At this, Amon gave Nagira a skeptical look.

"You set all of this up already? How did you manage it?"

"I told you I had an idea that wouldn't take long. How long did you think it would take? This guy knows the trouble we're in and they don't exactly take their sweet time with even regular witches." Nagira explained simply.

"Alright, so when do we leave?"

"Tomorrow morning, pack up lil bro, we're going to the Big Apple!" Nagira said, taking out a cigarette, lighting it up, and taking a puff.

By nine that night they had everything they had taken out of their bags packed back up and by the door. Robin was a bit nervous, she had never been to America and New York was a big, new city...could she get by? Looking over at Amon who had sat himself back down in his chair at the table, she smiled to herself. She'd be just fine...as long as she had him...and Nagira was a big help as well. She looked to him next and saw that he was sitting on the edge of his bed watching TV, obviously happy enough with their plans to remain calm. Still smiling, she got up and walked over to the door to her room and announced that she was going to bed.

"Hey, kid..."

Robin felt something nudge her side. She moaned and rolled over, away from the unknown object, too relaxed to wake up to see what it was.

"Hey, you have to get up..."

Another nudge. Damn it, what was poking her?

A chuckle and another nudge...wait, it wasn't a something, it was a someone. Rolling back over lazily, Robin caught sight of Nagira grinning at her, his index finger still extended as though he were going to poke her again.

"I'm up..." she replied, not wanting to get poked any more.

"Okay kid, we're leaving in an hour." And with that, he left. Looking over at the clock on the bedside table, she saw that it was 7:00 in the morning and got up, heading into the bathroom for a quick shower.

By the time she had finished Amon and Nagira were already at the door waiting for her. They had obviously gotten up eariler and started getting ready. Robin walked over to them and picked up her things as Amon and Nagira did the same. The walk to the car and the drive to the airport were uneventful, each just sitting in their seats as though they were simply taking a trip to New York for vacation even though it was far from a vacation.

Walking up to the desk, Nagira bought three tickets and they made their way towards the plane. They didn't have to wait long before the loading of the plane began, all three walking through the terminal. Robin accidentally bumped into a woman on her way through trying to keep up with Amon and Nagira's long strides, apologizing on the way, the woman nodding and telling her it was okay. Amon sat with Robin, a given Nagira thought, allowing her to take the window seat. Nagira sat in the seat across the aisle from Amon's, smirking to himself over how protective Amon was.

The plane ride, much like the car ride was uneventful. Robin went to sleep, bored and relaxed by the plane, only to wake back up when Amon gently shook her awake as the plane touched down. They all three filed out of the plane and made their way towards their luggage, waiting for it to come around, before heading out and catching a cab. As they all sat in the back seat, each were thinking of "James", the man that was to help them. None of them, oddly, had thought much of him until just then...just then they all realized they were heading off to meet a man they have never met before in a city none of them had ever been in before. Amon tensed a bit, mentally readying himself for anything that could go wrong, Nagira thought hard of what was said during his phone calls trying to grasp something that might make him feel better, and Robin chewed on her bottom lip a little, looking to Amon and Nagira for a sign of reassurance. Feeling her gaze, he turned his head to look at her and forced his face into an expression that would calm her nerves knowing that was what she was looking for. Seeing what she had wanted to see, she stopped chewing on her lip and looked out of the window, letting Amon to go back into the frame of mind he was in before.

_I hope I didn't forget anything or mess anything up...I'm in kind of a rush. My Dad wants the internet so I'm rushing to put my new chapters up. Hope you like it, please read and review. -Smiles-_


	14. Help and Hell

The cab pulled up in front of an old but beautiful, three story apartment building. Nagira exited the cab first followed by Amon and then Robin. It then dawned on them that they had no money to pay the cab driver with, their money wasn't American... 

"Oh, I'll get it!" said a man's voice from behind, followed by a door shutting and footsteps jogging towards the cab. Turning around, they saw a young man smiling warmly at them with some money in his hands. After being paid, the cab driver sped off leaving them with the strange man...

"Oh, hi, I'm James." he said extending a hand to whoever wanted to shake it. Amon reached out and grabbed his hand, shaking it briefly before returning his own to his side, not used to shaking hands. Nagira did the same as did Robin who didn't feel strange about it at all. In fact, she was rather happy about not having to bow as she usually forgot to in Japan, something Doujima had called her on at least once. After they all were introduced they headed inside and were met with a rather beautiful sight. It wasn't like a mansion but it was warm and friendly, a comfy place to live.

"Nice place you got here." Nagira commented, looking around, Robin imitating this, awed by how beautiful it was.

Chuckling, James replied "Thank you. I suppose you three will need your own money if you want to get around. I've already taken care of it, no need to exchange your own, just keep it."

"How would you do such a thing so quickly and easily?" Amon asked, not one to let such a statement pass. How could this man just give them money? James only turned around, a warm smile still on his face, and winked. Seeing this, Nagira had to keep from laughing. "Oh boy, wrong move...that's only going to make Amon more on edge now..." he thought to himself. He knew his brother, knew he liked being in control...he knew he wouldn't let something like that pass. Oh no, of course not...now he was going to keep his eyes and ears open even more if possible...

"Well, I'll show you to your rooms so you can put your things away and we can move on from there." They followed James up the stairs to the third floor where each was shown to their own room. Robin's room was one with a view of the street below in a feminine white, Amon's was across from her's, oddly in almost all black...how fitting...Nagira's was beside Robin's on the left and was decorated in much the same way as Amon's although somehow less moody, Nagira thought to himself. "Maybe that's because my room has me in it and Amon's has him in it." Nagira thought, chuckling a little. Looking over at Amon he saw that he was staring at him as though he were loony. At this, Nagira turned his attention back to James, not intending on saying anything...what an inappropriate time...later maybe.

"Alright, I should introduce you to the others..." James said clapping his hands together.

"The others?" Nagira asked, the thought that others were staying there as well just then coming back to him. "Oh yeah, I remember being told that we wouldn't be alone."

"Yeah, we have a few others here to help out. Come, I'll introduce you." James said, turning to walk back down a floor. They stopped at the first door on the right, James knocking three times and then stepping back to wait for the inhabitant to come out. A man of about 21 walked out, looking around at the guests, his face then suddenly brightening as though he were just remembering that they were expecting guests in the first place.

"Oh, hello, you must be Robin, Amon, and Nagira, I'm Nate." he said kindly, extending his hand.

"I'm Nagira" Nagira said as he reached for Nate's hand.

Amon introduced himself without shaking Nate's hand, he was still tense from meeting James and was already sick of shaking hands.

"And you must be Robin, it's a pleasure to meet you." Nate said, taking Robin's hand and gently kissing it. Seeing this, Nagira turned his gaze towards Amon wanting to see his reaction. He saw Amon grimace at Nate's show of...eh, affection, and for once didn't feel like laughing. Poor guy, all he could do was hope that Nate wouldn't develop a "thing" for Robin or Amon might just go crazy.

"Now on to Sarah's room, she's about your age Robin so you two will probably get along great." James said, leading them across the hall. Knocking on the door, they heard footsteps almost running seemingly excited to the door. The door flew open and there stood a blonde haired, blue eyed girl with a huge grin on her face.

"They're here! Oh, you must be Robin, hi, I'm Sarah, it's so nice to meet you! I've been the only girl here for months now, I'm glad that you're here to keep me company." she rattled off quickly. Smiling, Robin introduced herself, Sarah shaking her hand excitedly. Despite her...energetic...first impression, Robin had the feeling that they would become friends. She didn't say anything but she, too, was rather happy that there was another girl around. Robin wasn't used to having any female friends and the ones she had at the STNJ were barred from having contact with her outside of work. Robin had thought that was rather strange, colleagues unable to talk outside of work...she had always wanted a close friend.

"And that's everyone, although we're expecting another arrival any time today. A woman by the name of Aideen said she would help as well. A man back in Japan contacted me and said he knew one of your contacts, Nagira, and he said..."

"Which one?" Amon asked quickly. Someone else was coming? Sent by another? Bells were ringing in Amon's head and his heart sped up. How safe was it here after all? How much did they know? Nagira's plan of just jumping onto a plane and heading to the middle of no where was starting to sound better than this one.

"Oh, pardon me for not saying earlier, I understand your caution. Shin was his name, he said you had contacted him before leaving asking for information. He and I work together as well so we have a common contact I suppose you could say. He said the woman he was sending had contacted him after hearing through the grapevine of the Factory's fall. She wishes to help the "Eve" as he told me she put it." he grinned at this, "the Eve". Still seeing Amon's look of disapproval, he went on. "Don't worry, that wasn't the first time that he had heard of her. He had heard her name spoken before, she, too, is fighting for witches. I trust Shin's judgment." he added, smiling. "I'll leave you three to get accustomed to the house, make yourselves at home." he finished, walking away, back downstairs.

"Hey, Robin, want to come in? We can hang out toghether." Sarah asked, still smiling. "So, this is what a normal teenager is like?" Robin wondered to herself, already seeing a big difference in their behavior. Looking to Amon as if for permission, he nodded, figuring she would be okay out of his sight for once.

"Sure." Robin replied pleasantly, walking into Sarah's room. Upon entering, Robin saw that the room was entirely pink. It seemed to match Sarah's personality...

"Hey, wanna watch TV?" Sarah asked, walking over to her bed to sit down, the remote control in her hand. Nodding, Robin joined her, happy to be in such a place where things were looking up.

"So, what do you think?" Nagira asked, sitting in his room with Amon. Amon was standing by the window, looking down into the street, a frown on his face.

"I don't know, I won't until that other woman comes and I can get a feel for the entire situation." he replied seriously.

"Look little bro, I know you don't like being in this type of a situation, relying on other people you don't know, but James is a nice guy and..."

"And what? Nice guys can all be trusted? We're taking a chance and you know it." Amon said, turning to look at him.

"A chance, yes, but we aren't as at risk as you think. What? You think Sarah is going to attack you in the middle of the night? Strangle you with her pink curtains?" Nagira laughed.

Glaring at him, Amon walked towards the door saying "You'd be wise to keep your eyes and ears open, Nagira, this isn't play time." as he went.

"Yeah, yeah, I don't need my little brother telling me to stay on guard, I just don't intend to be suspicious of everyone and everything I see...but that picture over there is looking a bit shady, maybe it's one of those pictures with holes in the eyes where someone can spy on you...think it is? Maybe we should inspect it, are there any suits of armor around here while we're at it? Hey, Am..." looking around, he saw that Amon was already at the door, obviously irritated with his brother's jokes, hand on the doorknob. "Shut up Nagira." and with that, Amon exited the room.

Amon had settled himself in his room, seeing no need to leave. He didn't know anyone, didn't know where he was, and was not in the mood. Nagira, remembering that James had told them to "make themselves at home", had set out to explore. Robin was still in Sarah's room where they had watched TV, talked (Well, Robin listened and Sarah talked although she didn't mind.), and Sarah talked Robin into letting her put some makeup on her. Worried at first, Robin agreed, not one to deny someone something so simple that would obviously make them happy. She had sat down in front of Sarah's mirror and let her work on her, all the while talking on and on. She was certainly bubbly...

"...And I'm finished! Hey, you look really pretty Robin, what do you think?" Sarah said, obviously happy with her work, a big smile on her face. Looking into the mirror, Robin was surprised with her reflection. She had never thought of herself as ugly but rather...plain...not beautiful like Touko..."Whoa, where did that thought come from?" Robin thought to herself.

"Nice." Robin replied, honestly pleased with her new look, unable to say anything else.

"Glad you like it." Sarah said, happy with herself. At this, the door bell rang and Sarah turned her head towards the door quickly as though the person were waiting right outside her own door.

"Oh! It must be that other woman! Come on Robin, let's go see!" Sarah exclaimed, grabbing Robin's hand and dragging her out the door with her. Apparently, Nagira and Amon had the same idea as both appeared in the hallway at the same time. Sarah stopped, Robin's hand still in hers, and turned to Amon and Nagira. "You two coming too? Oh, hey, like what I did with Robin. Pretty, huh?"

Looking closer, Amon and Nagira both saw that Robin had makeup on. Grinning, Nagira saw a great opportunity..."You look pretty kid, right Amon?"

"Damn him." Amon thought to himself. He may have kissed Robin and told Nagira he cared but he hadn't commited to her...and this other kid was here, how was he supposed to just say "Yeah, you look great." in front of her? Seeing Robin looking at him, waiting for an answer, he simply nodded, hoping that would suffice.

"We better hurry, we'll miss everything if we don't!" Sarah said, racing down the hall pulling Robin behind her. Nagira still smiling, followed, calling behind him "Coming?" catching Amon's glare. "What?" Nagira asked innocently, letting Amon catch up. "Shut up Nagira."

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Amon saw Robin and Sarah standing on the bottom step watching James and Nate talking to a woman in a dark purple, floor length dress, with a black floor length coat over top of it. From behind he could see that she had long black hair to about the middle of her back. Hearing more people enter the room, the woman turned around, smiling at the new arrivals. Amon could then see that her skin was pale and her eyes were a bright blue. She was somewhere in her 20's and looked innocent enough...

"Hello, I'm Aideen." she said walking forward to meet Amon and Nagira.

"I'm Nagira and this is my brother, Amon." Nagira said smiling, grabbing her hand and shaking it. Nodding, Amon also took her hand and shook it.

Looking Amon in the eyes she continued on. "I hope you don't mind my coming along. When I heard of the Eve's trouble I had to help."

"No, of course not." said Nagira. "We're grateful for your help." Upon hearing his voice, she turned her gaze towards Nagira for a split second before looking back to Amon. Seeing this, Nagira actually felt himself getting a little...angry...he could see a problem. Was this woman attracted to Amon? Was Nate attracted to Robin? "God, this might be shaping up to becoming a soap opera at this rate..." he thought to himself.

Breaking the quiet, Sarah said happily, "Wow, there are so many people now! This'll be fun!"

_I had to laugh reading over some of my reviews again because I saw that someone said that my story is well planned out...because I haven't planned anything but the names and the general order of who might die and when. -Laughs- I just sit down and start typing. I envision everything in my mind and type it up as it "happens". Odd, huh? _

_I had chapter 13 done at about 12:30am but I got tired and started to slow down. It took about 15 minutes to get back into things because I had forgotten where I left off. I had to backtrack and read up on my own story so I wouldn't make something dumb happen, imagine that. -Laughs- Hopefully I'll get more done by the time I decide to post this...I'm planning on one hell of a catch up for all of the time I took off from writing. -Winks- Now let's just hope I can deliver as much as I promised._

_Today is my birthday so I might not write as much, not sure...I'm just getting a cake but staying in my room and writing all day wouldn't be a good way to thank my parents now would it. -Smiles-_


	15. What Doesn't Kill You

It was time to eat so everyone sat themselves around a large, beautiful table that sat eight people. Everyone took their seats leaving the chair at the head of the table and the chair across from Robin vacant for Sarah and James who were bringing out the food. Once everything was set down and James and Sarah had both taken their seats, everyone began to eat. The seating arrangement was okay, Nagira thought, although he wished the table were bigger...so Aideen could be further away from Amon. He just didn't like her, it was as though he were jealous for Robin so she didn't have to be. James was at the head of the table in the chair closest to the swinging door that led to the kitchen, Nagira was on James's left hand while Nate was in front of him. Robin was on Nagira's left and Amon was next to her. Sarah sat across from Robin putting her on Nate's right while Aideen took the seat in front of Amon. The other head of the table was vacant. She kept looking up at him, him meeting her gaze every so often. "What in the hell is he doing?" Nagira thought angerly. "He isn't an idiot, he knows that woman likes him, why is he playing into this? Oh boy, I've never done the whole kick-my-little-brother's-ass thing but I'm pretty close to it..."

"So, I was thinking that since we have a nice sized house here at our disposal and enough room for everyone, we would stay put. Running all the time wouldn't be smart, it would only complicate things. New York is a nice place, you three should blend in well." James said, bringing Nagira back to reality which wasn't much better..."That damn woman..."

"That sounds like a smart plan, we should all stay put." Aideen said softly, smiling at everyone although it seemed like she was smiling only at Amon to Nagira..."This Aideen chick is going to drive me up a wall..."

"What do you think Amon?" Nagira asked, making his brother turn his head to look his way. Robin leaned back a bit in her chair so they could see each other but wasn't really paying attention...had she been, she would have caught Nagira's glare and Amon's questioning face.

"Sounds good to me." he said flatly, confused by his brother's sudden anger. "What's wrong with him?" Amon thought, looking up from his plate and seeing Aideen looking at him again. He wasn't sure of what he should think of Aideen but he was pretty sure he thought he knew what she thought of him. The attention he was receiving was flattering although he didn't know how to react...it wasn't as though she were the first woman he had ever been around, hell, he had been with Touko for months. But this was different somehow...but how baffled him.

Looking over at Amon, Robin caught the two of them looking at one another and instantly turned her attention back to her plate as though she had seen something indecent. Blushing furiously, she took a bite of her food, her heart speeding up and something, somewhere inside of her being crushed by an unknown weight. Aideen...she was beautiful. She had curves Robin didn't have...she was closer to Amon's age. A beauty like Touko. "I guess I just never figured Amon would act as though he had feelings for one person and then change his mind when someone better came along..." thought Robin sadly to herself. Her face fell in saddness and Nagira took in every inch of it. He could tell she wanted to cry, wanted out of the room...he wanted to grab Amon and shake him. He didn't know if he felt anything for his woman, which would be ridiculous Nagira reasoned as he hadn't even spoken with her much yet, but he needed to stop satisfying this woman's craving for his attention. Hell, he needed to stop even if he did feel something for her oddly...just for Robin's sake, he needed to stop either way. Nagira sat there taking in everything that happened right down to the slightest movement between the three as though it were an action movie even though barely anything was going on.

Everyone was finally done eating so they all left the room after having been told by James and Sarah that they would clean up. Robin meekly pushed her chair in quickly and scuttled away towards her room. Amon and Nagira stood as well, both seeing Robin hurrying away with her hands clasped in front of her and her head bowed slightly. Furrowing his eyebrows together, Amon couldn't figure out what was wrong, deciding to just shrug it off. Nagira walked past Amon, anger coming off of him in waves so strong even Amon could feel it from behind him. Aideen and Nate were left in the dust as Amon picked up his pace to catch up with Nagira, irritated that something was going on and he was, apparently, the party receiving the cold shoulder.

Up the stairs they went and off to the right, the only direction they could go on the third floor. Just as Amon rounded the corner coming off of the steps he saw Nagira's back disappear into his room and heard a door slam. Sighing to himself, he walked over to his door and knocked. Getting no response, he decided to just go in...this was ridiculous. What had he done? Upon entering, he saw Nagira walking towards the balcony, angerly reaching for the door and pulling it open.

"Nagira!" Amon called out, tired of chasing his suprisingly quick older brother around like they were children. Sighing yet again, he followed after him, figuring there was no where for him to go, he had him cornered. Making his way through the door, he saw Nagira leaning against the railing of the balcony, looking straight out with a cigarette dangling from his mouth.

"Would you mind telling me what's gotten you so angry and what's got Robin acting so strange?" he asked.

"You." Nagira replied flaty, angerly, and simply all at the same time, sounding very much like a child. "You", please, he could have said more than that, Amon had already figured that much out all on his own.

"What have I done to anger you in the short amount of time that we've been here?" Amon asked, curious as to what he had done that was so bad.

"Did you have to do it so openly?" Nagira replied, finally turning half way around to face him.

"Do what?" Amon asked, his eyebrows coming together in questioning.

"Flirt with that Aideen chick, geez, you..."

"What?" Amon interrupted sternly. Flirt? Was he kidding?

"Aw, don't play dumb with me, you're too old for that one. She kept making googly eyes at you and instead of looking away or ignoring her you kept looking back. I thought you liked Robin, don't tell me you've changed your mind alre.."

"Of course not, you're being foolish. Are you telling me that that's what this is all about? You running around slamming doors, Robin running off to her room without a word...over me simply looking over at another woman?" Amon asked heatedly. He couldn't believe his ears...

"Ha, don't make this into nothing when it's something. It wasn't as though you just glanced up, you kept doing it, you're encouraging her without even realizing it. What's worse is that Robin even noticed...she's strong Amon but she's still young, her heart is easy to break and you aren't being too careful..." Nagira said the last part softly, the vision of Robin running out of the room coming back into his mind. Just then Amon realized the pain he had caused Robin. She was so fragile and he had forgotten...it seemed like nothing to him, he wasn't flirting but to Robin...Sighing, Amon ran a hand through his hair while looking out over the balcony, vaguely aware of his brother looking at him expectantly. He walked over to the balcony and leaned on the railing just as his brother had been doing when he found him, Nagira turning to do the same. Nagira then reached over to grab a cigarette, passing one to Amon, Amon raising an eyebrow at him.

"Ah, take it, it's just one, it won't kill ya." Looking over, Amon grabbed it, stuck it in his mouth and let Nagira light it for him.

Back in her room, Robin was laying on her bed, unmoving, staring at the ceiling. She felt...jealous...for the first time in her life, she felt jealous. She hadn't felt that when Amon was with Touko, why now? He didn't do anything...right?

"I guess I just never viewed them as a couple, he spent more time with me than he did with her and I was just his partner at work..." she whispered to herself, feeling foolish for having such a feeling. Just then Robin heard a knock on her door but before she could get up to answer it or call out, the door flew open and Sarah walked in.

"Hey, whatcha doin'?" she asked cheerily. Sitting up, Robin gave her a small smile and a quiet "Nothing."

"Ah, good, we can hang!" Sarah said happily, hopping onto Robin's bed.

"Good thing she came, I might have brooded all night until I fell asleep." Robin thought, grateful for Sarah's good timing. 


	16. Tangled Webs

Waking up the next morning, Amon dragged himself into the bathroom, took a shower and then got dressed. Not yet fully awakened, kept groggy by the relaxing feeling of being safe and free, Amon then walked out of his room, vaguely aware of his brother's absence. Looking down sleepily as he shut his door, Amon heard another door opening. Looking up, he saw Robin looking back at him with a blank look on her face but confusion and light panic in her eyes. They stood there looking at each other, their hearts beating so quickly it was almost painful until Robin took in a deep and shaky breath. Both shut their doors quietly and headed towards the kitchen for breakfast. Robin walked off ahead of him, her footstepts so light they barely made a sound. Amon decided to give her her space...hurrying to catch up with her would only make her feel worse.

Upon entering the kitchen, Amon saw everyone was in the same seats they were the night before except for Aideen who was absent. Not thinking anything of it, Amon took his seat next to Robin and began to eat. About ten minutes later, Aideen made her entrance, Amon, Robin, and Nagira all looking up. Robin looked back down quickly but Nagira kept his eyes on Aideen, his stomach twisting for a not so unknown reason. Amon turned his attention back to his plate but glanced back at Aideen one final time before ignoring her completely. Seeing this, Robin felt a bit better, hoping she was overreacting about last night's events. Nagira looked back down at his plate and smiled a bit, thinking what he said to Amon the night prior got through to him.

A week had passed since the trio's arrival and Robin was a bit bored as was Nagira. They were in a new country, a new city...New York interested Robin. She wanted to experience it while she was there but she hadn't dared to ask Amon if she could go out. Since Aideen arrived, they had been distant, she didn't feel like she could ask him. Robin felt like she was back to square one...like she was just a little girl with a crush on a guy who didn't know she existed just like she felt when she first joined the STNJ. This saddened her greatly and at the same time, opened up other feelings. She had been so dependant on Amon that she had rarely left his side after the fall of the Factory and was almost entirely centered on him before but now she felt the need to go out on her own, to take hold of some piece of her life. Maybe she wanted to show Amon she didn't need him for everything...maybe she wanted to make him worry...jealous? Robin sat on the balcony, wondering where such feelings and desires came from. They just weren't her.

Gathering her courage, Robin stood up and made her way towards James's office intending to ask him if she could go outside and look around the city. She passed Amon on the first floor but didn't stop to say hello or to even acknowlegde his presence. She felt strong, she didn't need him...not right now anyways. As Robin passed, Amon stopped and turned around in the direction she was heading, wondering what she was up to. He then saw that she was headed towards James's office and wanted to know what was going on immediately. Deciding he had a right to know, he followed Robin, keeping his distance.

The door was open a bit so she knocked and then quietly pushed it open a bit, seeing James sitting behind a nice sized desk in a warm, dimly lit room. Looking up, James smiled and motioned for Robin to enter.

"Yes, Robin?" James asked kindly.

"Would it be alright if I went out around the city today?" Robin asked, hoping the answer would be yes. She felt rather than heard Amon lean against the doorway and chose to ignore his presence. How was this any of his business?

"I don't think that would be wise, Robin." came Amon's stern voice from behind. That only served to immediately irriate Robin which was unusual for her.

Turning to face Amon Robin replied "Why? You had no problem with it when we were back in Japan." Amon's face remained impassive but inside his heart jumped a bit. She was arguing with him...she was directly defying him. Looking her straight in the face Amon saw the same look Robin had when arguing with Karasuma over using her powers...when she had finally learned to control her craft and insisted upon using it more often. She had been right about that girl though, she was a witch..."But that is beside the point." Amon thought, mentally shaking his head.

"Because, we don't know how many hunters are after us, where they are, or what they plan to do." he said simply. Figuring that would be the end of the discussion, he turned to leave only to hear Robin angerly reply.

"We've been here a week, nothing has happened. What are the chances of a hunter waiting for me to go outside instead of charging in?"

Amon opened his mouth to reply, Robin's determination irritating him, but was cut off by James who had been silently watching. "How about Robin goes out with someone? That way, she'll be safe and can still get out to stretch her legs? I'd hate to see two good friends such as yourselves arguing over such a trivial matter." Smiling, James looked back down at his paperwork assuming the discussion was over. Turning to go, Robin shot Amon a glare..well, the best one she could manage. She didn't want to appear too mean, she just didn't have it in her and she was oddly afraid that she might hurt him somehow. She marched back up the stairs and straight to Nagira's room to ask him if he'd go for a walk with her. Looking puzzled, Nagira said yes, grabbed his coat, and walked with Robin to the door. Upon reaching the front door, Nagira saw Amon standing back to the side, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest looking rather...irritated. Raising an eyebrow at him, Nagira followed Robin out the door and out onto the street. It was later in the day so the temperature was just right and the sun was beautiful.

After having walked for about 20 minutes, Nagira turned to Robin, full of questions burning to be let out.

"Hey kid, why did you want me to come? I would have thought you'd ask Amon to co..."

"I didn't want to." Robin interrupted. She obviously did not want to talk about Amon but Nagira pressed on.

"Why not? You two haven't been as close as usual..."

"Close," Robin wanted to continue on and bitterly say "When were we ever close?" but decided against it. That would only cause more questions to be asked and she knew it would be a lie...they were close. Robin, instead, chose to just drop it right there and let Nagira take the simple word she had uttered for what he wanted.

"Yeah, I have to say, you're probably the closest friend he's ever had...it's just odd that you two have split apart when you finally have peaceful time together. Like now for instance, now would have been a great time for you two to spend time alone." Nagira suggested innocently...heh, like he didn't know what he was doing...hopefully, Nagira thought, Robin, however, didn't.

Nagira's words hit Robin hard, her strength and anger subsiding. She bowed her head a bit and Nagira, catching this, quickly added "But you have more time, it isn't as though today is the day the world ends. You two have plenty of time to hang around." Looking up, Robin caught Nagira's smile and smiled back.

"Hey, how about we go and get some ice cream?"

After Robin and Nagira left, Amon walked up to his room, his mind spinning. "What's going on? Robin and I are hardly talking and now she's pissed at me...We actually came close to a real argument as well." Walking up the last flight of stairs, Amon was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't notice Aideen walking down the other way.

"Amon..." Aideen softly called. Looking up, Amon's heart skipped a beat as he realized he wasn't alone anymore. His thoughts, which had previously been centered on Robin, changed to Robin and Aideen. "And here who has, unknowingly, caused World War III between Robin and I...maybe I should..."

"Want to go for a walk? It's such a nice day out and it would be a shame if it was wasted." Aideen's words cut through Amon's thoughts, causing him to lose his train of thought. What had he been thinking before? Robin...Robin...that's right...Robin...

"Amon?" Aideen questioned, her head tilting to the side a bit in confusion.

"Hm?" Amon replied distractedly.

Giggling a bit Aideen again asked Amon if he wanted to go for a walk. Nodding, Amon turned around and headed back the way he came, not quite sure of what he was doing.

An hour later, Robin and Nagira came back, Robin's spirits higher than they were before. As soon as they shut the door, Sarah came running down the stairs with her ever present smile glowing as usual.

"Robin! I was looking for you, I wondered where you went to. James said you went for a walk so I thought you and Amon went together but I guess not."

"Why would she think that?" Robin wondered. "If she had been looking for me, wouldn't she have eventually asked Amon if he knew where I was?"

"Why did you think that?" Robin asked, her eyebrows coming together a bit.

"Oh, because Amon wasn't here either. Actually, he went for a walk too but he went with Aideen. I guess he left after you did...Hey Robin,..."

As Sarah continued on, Robin spaced out, not hearing anything else Sarah was saying. Her breathing quickened painfully and if felt like her world had come crashing down. "Amon..went with Aideen..." was all she could think. Nagira looked at Robin out of the corner of his eye and could see that Robin was upset...visibly this time. Her chest was heaving faster and deeper than usual as her breathing had sped up and her eyes were full of tears. Nagira briefly wondered if Robin was going to have a breakdown...

"Hey Robin! Earth to Robin!" Sarah called while waving her hand in front of Robin's face. Looking up, Robin gave Sarah a blank stare, completely lost...

"Are you alright?" Sarah asked, her smile dropping for the first time since Robin had arrived, her voice becoming very serious and worry filled.

Shaking her head, Robin gave Sarah a sad smile and walked off without another word leaving Sarah and Nagira to look after Robin's retreating form.

Walking side by side, Amon felt calm but...there was something else...something that nagged him every once in a while...Following Aideen blankly, he found himself standing on a bridge over a small lake. He leaned on the railing with his arms crossed and stared out over the lake. "Something doesn't feel right..." Looking over towards Aideen, he saw her looking out over the lake as well, a smile on her face. "I'm just nervous...the argument with Robin has me unsettled..." he thought to himself.

"We should get back." Amon said indifferently. Preparing to leave, he heard Aideen laugh a little and turned to look at her.

"Always in a rush." she said.

"How would you know?" Amon asked curiously.

Shrugging, Aideen replied, "Just a guess. It isn't as though we have anything better to do, now is it?" At this, she turned to Amon and smiled and somewhere inside of Amon, something shifted. Aideen moved a bit closer, putting her hand on the side of Amon's face and gently ran her thumb over his cheek. Amon's heart jumped and he opened his mouth to protest but Aideen put her finger to his mouth...moved in...and kissed him softly. Closing his eyes, Amon numbly wondered to himself what he was doing...or what he wasn't doing. Why wasn't he resisting?

The curves of Amon's lips barely moved beneath Aideen's, his mind split between pulling away and kissing her back. Slowly, she pulled back and smiled at him, taking his hand and pulling him away from the railing, back towards "home". Upon arriving, Amon's heart sped up again and he realized he didn't remember the walk back. Aideen was still holding his hand...what if someone saw? Why was he worried? Why was he even holding her hand? He felt like a teenager, completely confused and torn between hiding such a small detail and just letting it go. He then became aware of Aideen leading him up the stairs and down the first floor.

"Wait, I'm on the second floor." Amon said, his mouth finally forming the words his mind had been echoing.

"I know...but I'm not." Aideen said suggestively, opening her door and pulling Amon inside.

Down the hall at James's office, Nagira peeked his head out around the door with a look filled with shock, anger, and digust on his face.

"What are you doing little brother? You don't even know do you?" Nagira whispered to himself. Shaking his head, Nagira turned to James and thanked him for taking time to discuss the situation with him and left. As he passed Aideen's room, he glanced at the door throwing its occupants a heated, almost murderous glare. He reached the second floor and as he passed Robin's door, he slowed and replaced his angered expression with a pained one. Shaking his head, he continued on to his room whispering to himself, "Now what?" 


	17. Day Away

"Good, we can't afford to mess this up. It's time." Alec said lazily while swirling blood red wine in a delicate glass. Hanging the phone up gently and quietly, he leaned back and propped his right arm up on the side of the chair, holding the glass in his pale white hand. "The hunt is on." 

Waking up, the first thing Nagira saw was the clock on his bedside table; the red numbers telling him it was only 7:30AM. Sighing, Nagira rolled over onto his back knowing breakfast wouldn't be ready anyways. Not that he was hungry, his thoughts were on his baby brother that morning. He felt rather numb laying there...how Amon could be like that was beyond him. He never knew his brother to be the playboy type, he was always a good man. Robin...

Sighing again, Nagira rolled out of bed and got dressed. He made his way out of his room and over to Robin's, stopping outside to knock on the door. Upon hearing her voice calling out "Come in." he entered and put on a fake smile for Robin's sake. Afterall, he knew he was able to cheer her up; if he made her sadder he wouldn't have been doing his job.

"Hey little Robin, how 'bout we go out for breakfast this morning? Just the two of us? We can goof off and have a great time here in the Big Apple." Nagira said cheerily.

"Um...I'm not sure, what about Am..."

"Ah, don't worry about that butt head, I'll take care of him." he interrupted, not even wanting to think about Amon. Hell, Robin didn't need his permission for everything anyways, who did he think he was? "Just grab your coat and we'll head out. Who cares, yeah? Let's just have fun! We don't always need to live in fear or by a schedule."

Staring at Nagira for a second, Robin finally shook her head and gave him a small, soft smile. Grabbing her coat and walking towards Nagira, he stuck his arm out and said "After you m'lady." earning him a giggle from Robin and a bit of warmth for his own heart. He shut the door behind him and turned to see Robin waiting for him, her coat draped over her arm. He put his hand on the small of her back and guided her down the hall and towards the stairs, determined to keep her away from the house as long as possible. Why he felt the need...desire...to keep her away wasn't completely clear to him. Maybe he wanted to make Amon mad? Jealous? Worried? Maybe he wanted to hurt him...maybe it was all of the above.

Looking towards James' door on the first floor, Nagira thought it best to let James know that he and Robin wouldn't be joining them for breakfast that morning. He figured James would be in there as he almost always was. Nagira knocked on the door and waited.

"It's open." he heard James say from inside. Nagira opened the door and peaked his head in, seeing James sitting at his desk with glasses perched upon his nose and papers scattered about in front of him. Looking up, James smiled, "Yes Nagira?"

"Robin and I won't be here for breakfast, we'll be out most of the day."

"Ah, okay, thanks for telling me. Where's Amon?" James asked, obviously way out of the loop concerning events going on in his own house.

Shrugging, miffed by the mere thought of Amon, Nagira said "I don't know, I guess the guy is still in bed." "Pftt," Nagira thought to himself, "but I didn't say his own bed..." At this thought, Nagira's face, without his noticing, contorted to form a slightly angry looking expression.

"Is there something wrong, Nagira?" James asked picking up on Nagira's anger.

Shaking his head and waving one hand in the air dismissively, Nagira replaced his former expression with a smile. "Nah, I spaced out for a bit there."

"Oh okay." James said chuckling. "So Amon doesn't know? What should I tell him if he asks about you two?"

Seeing an opportunity to jab Amon again, Nagira replied, "Just tell him we've gone out and not to wait up." He then turned to leave, leaving James to sit at his desk with a confused look on his face. He turned to Robin and, again, put his hand on the small of her back and guided her towards the stairs like she were a child who needed guidance. He couldn't help but act like a father slash brother to her, she was just so small and fragile...

Reaching the front door, he opened the door for Robin and let her out first, both bathed in the warm sunlight of the cool morning; a nice cool breeze gently caressing their faces.

Groaning, Amon sat up in bed and rubbed his head which was throbbing painfully. Looking over at the clock beside his bed, he saw that it was 8:30AM; just in time for breakfast. He swung his legs out over his bed and made his way to the bathroom. He opened the medicine cabinet and grabbed a random bottle of medicine. He read the label and then stuck it back in, grabbing another. Upon reading this label, he found it was exactly what he needed to clear up a headache. He grabbed a paper cup from a dispenser, filled it with water from the sink, and popped the pills in his mouth, downing them with water. He dumped the rest of the water down the sink and threw the cup away, turning to the shower intending to let the cool water help ease the pain in his head.

After he showered and got dressed, he made his way to the dining room. He glanced at Robin's door but thought better of entering or waiting for her and continued on towards the stairs. He walked towards the dining room swinging door, pushed it open and...saw only James and Sarah. Aideen was absent and so was Nagira and Nate who had been rather silent since day one anyways, but Amon wasn't thinking of them...where was Robin?

Looking up from setting a bowl on the table, James caught Amon's glance towards Robin's chair. "Oh, Robin and Nagira aren't here. Nagira said if you asked I was to tell you they went out and 'not to wait up'." He said the last part with a chuckle, apparently thinking it was a joke between brothers. Furrowing his eyebrows together, Amon sat down at the table and directed all of his mental anger at Nagira. He knew what he was up to...

Pulling Robin behind him with bags in both of their hands, Nagira, who had a goofy grin on his face, yelled back to Robin. "Come on Robin, you snooze you lose!"

"What?" Robin asked breathlessly.

Chuckling, Nagira said "Forget it, kid. Hey, what do you want to do next? More shopping?"

"I didn't think you liked to shop so much." Robin teased, to which Nagira made a face.

"Hey, I don't like to shop, I'm doing this for you...I thought girls liked shopping." Nagira half asked, half stated.

"Hm, I've never shopped like this before...I took what I got at the convent." she explained in her soft voice.

"Well see, that won't do for a girl your age. You're 15, right? When do you turn 16?" Nagira asked, realizing he didn't know her birthday.

"Oh, I'm already 16..." Robin replied, just now remembering it herself. Nagira's mouth dropped at this, "Really? Why didn't you say anything, kid?"

"I...forgot." Robin smiled at Nagira.

"You forgot your own birthday?" Nagira asked incredulously.

"Yeah well, I turned 16 not long after I arrived in Japan. I was so busy that I forgot. I'm not used to celebrating it anyways. Father Juliano would give me a gift but that was all." As Robin explained this, a hazy look came over her face as she reminisced about the past.

"Well then, there ya go, 16 years worth of birthday presents!" Nagira exclaimed cheerily.

"Hey!"

"What was that?" Nagira asked, scratching his head.

Turning in the direction of where the call came from, Nagira and Robin saw Nate.

"Hello." Robin said kindly. Nagira just nodded.

"What are you two up to?" Nate asked with a smile on his face.

"Nothing much." Nagira stated simply. He was being rather defensive today...Amon was definitely rubbing off on him.

"Oh, I was actually going to ask Robin if she wanted to hang out when I got home but luckily, I ran into you two here." Nagira's eyes widened at this.

Looking to Nagira to see his reaction, Robin's thoughts settled on Amon...and she suddenly felt a strong desire to make him jealous. Again, Robin wondered where such feelings and thoughts came from. They weren't her..."But love makes you do stupid things sometimes..." she thought to herself...

"Nagira, you wouldn't mind if I went with Nate would you?"

"Huh? You want to go?" Rubbing his chin, Nagira thought on the situation for a minute. "She wants to run off with another guy...hm, that could pose a problem. Robin and Amon just keep drifting further and further apart. But then again, if I come back without little Robin, Amon would have a cow...and he might be forced to take action...hm..."

"Yeah, you two kids go ahead. Don't worry about the bags, I'll take them back. Don't hurry home!" Nagira exclaimed happily, taking the bags from Robin and setting off in the other direction.

_Sorry to leave you all in a somewhat dull cliffhanger but I need a break, it's hot as hell in here. -Laughs- I upped the rating to T just in case._

On another note, for updates and general info, check out my profile. -Smiles-


	18. Bad Beginning, Happy Ending

"Honey, I'm home!" Nagira yelled goofily as he walked through the front door. Shrugging, he made his way up the stairs towards Robin's room intending to put her things on her bed for her. Surprisingly enough, he was in a good mood. Humming lightly to himself, he stopped in front of Robin's door and, after fumbling with the bags a bit, managed to open it. He walked over to her bed, put her bags down on it, and turned around...to see Amon leaning against the door frame, glaring at him. 

"Well, hey lil bro, what's up?"

"Where's Robin?"

"Ah, the little bird is out." Nagira said with a grin.

"Out? You let her go off on her own?" Amon asked, anger and panic rising within him. His voice, however, only revealed the anger present, in not only his voice, but his eyes as well.

"Of course not, God, don't tell me you think I'm that dumb. She's with Nate." Nagira said seriously.

"You don't want me to comment on how dumb I think you can be." Amon responded, glaring even more viciously at him. He felt like he was about to crack. Everything was just piling up; he was uncertain about Aideen, he was afraid of Robin getting hurt, he was confused by his own actions, not only with Aideen, but with Robin, he was angry over Nagira getting involved, he was jealous of Nate, and he was actually...upset and hurt that he wasn't close with Robin anymore. It felt like an eternity since they were close. He felt like things were just messed up; mangled beyond recognition.

All he got in response to his comment was a cocky "heh" and a shrug. Nagira made his way towards the door but Amon slammed his left hand on the door frame, blocking Nagira's path.

"Move."

No reply.

"Don't make me move you."

Still no reply.

"Oh, I see," Nagira said softly and teasingly, "you're upset about little bird being out with someone else. BUT, little Amon was with someone else as well if I'm not mistaken. Screw another woman and this is what you g..." Nagira didn't finish his whole sentence before Amon shoved him, hard, in the chest. Stumbling backwards a bit, Nagira grinned at him.

"Now now, no need for violence. I'm sure Nate and Robin will have a great time together just like you and Aideen did last night." Nagira finished, this time, rather sharply. As soon as he said it, Nagira knew that was the end of any civility that may have remained between the two of them. He knew they were no longer heading towards a fight but had actually entered into one and it wasn't going to be pretty.

"Shut up." Amon growled. He wasn't about to go there with, of all people, his brother.

"No, I think I've kept pretty quiet thus far and I'm tired of it." Nagira replied, straightening himself out. Hell, he wasn't afraid of Amon, why should he take his orders like a scared little kid? "You're pathetic, you know that? You start off treating her like shit, then you turn around and kiss her. Mind you, the time between treating her like shit and kissing her was hard as hell what with you sending her away and then hunting her...Then, you change again. Heh, I didn't even see this one coming though." He said, shaking his head. "What's up, huh? What are you doing?" Nagira asked, somewhat desperately. Amon was confusing before but he couldn't understand anything about him now.

All he got in reply though was, yet again, silence. Both men were staring each other down, panting slightly with anger. "What? What are you doing with Aideen! She's one girl, just one girl! You don't even know her and yet you fall for her like some little boy! Don't for one second think you're fooling me or Robin! The kid has eyes, that's all it takes to catch you making goofy faces at her! I saw you go into Aideen's room last night Amon! What were you doing with her, huh? Screwing her, weren't ya!"

No sooner had Nagira gotten his sentence out had Amon punched him square in the mouth. Nagira, who was bent over a bit after having taken such a blow, stared up at an angrier than ever Amon with his mouth slightly open. Slowly, he raised his right hand to his mouth and wiped some of the blood that was making its way down his jaw off. Looking at the blood on his hand, the realization that his little brother had just punched him set in. And he was pissed.

Nagira, moving quickly, stood and punched Amon in the face, not caring what he hit. And with that punch, the anger flew. Amon retaliated by punching Nagira in the stomach, causing him to double over in pain. Not stopping for even a second to let the pain sink in, Nagira got back up and punched Amon in the face again. Oh, but he wasn't done yet. He punched him again, grabbing his arm and twisting it behind him. Nagira, taking control of the situation, then forced Amon, face down, onto the floor and placed a knee to his back to keep him down. He may have been angry but he knew they couldn't just keep beating the crap out of each other.

"Stop!" Nagira yelled, feeling Amon squirm beneath him. "We gotta stop, we're too old for this. If I let you up, do you promise not to hit me? Promise me we'll talk like civilized adults."

"Fine, get off of me you big ape." Amon growled, pushing himself up.

Still panting, worse than ever, they both got up and sat themselves on Robin's bed.

"I didn't." Amon simply stated, running a hand through his disheveled hair.

Doing the same, Nagira turned his head towards his brother. "What?"

"I didn't...I didn't do anything with Aideen." Sighing, Amon got up and walked towards the door. Nagira, who wasn't about to let this go just yet, got up and followed.

He followed Amon into his room and upon entering, saw him heading towards the bathroom. Walking after him, he leaned against the door frame as Amon had done earlier and watched him take out four pills. Without looking at him, Amon handed two of the pills to Nagira wordlessly, put one of his own in his mouth and took a drink of water.

"Wait, you didn't...do anything with Aideen?" Nagira asked before popping a pill in his mouth. Looking down at the sink, Amon simply shook his head no before popping the second pill into his mouth and downing it with water.

"Then what happened? I saw you go into her room." Nagira stated, somewhat accusingly. He then popped his second pill into his mouth and finished it off with a gulp of water. He watched as Amon turned from the sink and made his way to his bed, sitting down upon it and placing his head in his hands.

"I left."

"Okay, I've had enough of the vague answers you've been giving me," Nagira said as he made his way towards the bed, "I want to know what happened."

Amon sighed again and continued on. "I went into her room and...it just wasn't right. I don't know what's wrong Nagira." He finished miserably, running his hands through his hair. "I shouldn't...feel like this..."

"Like what?" Nagira asked calmly.

"Like I do...for Robin. She's too young...Aideen...she's closer to my age. Robin...she's so innocent. Should I really feel such things for someone so pure? Compared to me she's an angel...how could she care for someone like me?" Upon that statement, Nagira's mouth dropped open slightly. He then shut it and gazed at his younger brother softly, suddenly feeling sorry for him. He understood now.

"Amon," Nagira sighed, "Just take life as it comes. You don't have to analyze everything that happens. Robin loves you, she really loves you. That's rare these days, real love...Don't lose her because you feel you aren't good enough because she obviously feels you are."

Looking up, Amon saw that Nagira was smiling softly at him. He felt like a little kid getting advice about girls from his older brother but that didn't matter. He needed the advice. At that moment, the door burst open and in came James, panting, with a worried look on his face.

"Amon, Nagira, it's Robin. There's been an attack, Nate called, he needs back up."

Not wasting a second of time, they both jumped up and ran for the door. If anything happened to Robin, neither man would forgive themselves.

"Robin! Robin, are you okay? Where are you?" Nate called out. They had been walking in the park when a shot was fired off. It hit Nate's left arm but the miss allowed them enough time to run for cover. Nate had lost sight of Robin as they both ran in two different directions but what was even worse was, this guy seemed to be invisible...and in all places at once.

"I'm over here!" Robin shouted as best as she could, her voice still retaining its soft quality. She trusted Nate but she still couldn't get her mind off of Amon. She just kept wishing he were there, he always seemed to be calm, he always knew what to do...

"Where is he? I can't see him, the shots keep coming from different directions...maybe there are several people here..." Robin thought to herself as she slipped on her glasses.

"Over here." a voice echoed. Whipping her head around, Robin caught sight of a man standing by a light pole that had come on as the sun set. She could barely see him, he looked more like a shadow than an actual person, but she could clearly see the sadistic smile present on his face.

Not wasting any time on words, Robin threw her flames at him only to see them go straight through him. Robin's eyes widened as she watched the shadow fade into nothingness.

Gasping, Robin whispered to herself, "Where did he go?" She, again, thought of Amon but quickly pushed him out of her mind. "I'm not a child, I can do this on my own, I don't...I don't need him." her mind whispered, trying to steel itself for battle.

She then heard three more shots go off and her heart immediately sped up. Nate, where was he?

"Nate?" Robin called out, panic getting the best of her.

"What's going on?" she heard him angerly reply. "My bullets went right through him!"

"I know, the same thing happened with me. He's hiding and...I think he's projecting false images of himself." Robin yelled back. "But how?" she, again, thought to herself. "I've never seen magic like this..."

Amon looked down at the paper in his hand and looked to his left to see a park. James had given him instructions on how to get to the park where Robin was to be and, as far as he could tell, he was there. Now to find Robin...

Whipping his head around, Amon closed his eyes to try and drown out the pounding of his heart in his ears. He thought he heard shouting...

"Amon, wait!..." Nagira panted, finally catching up. "Is this it? Is this where Rob..."

"Ssh..." Amon said, closing his eyes even tighter to try and focus. Gun shots! They were definitely nearby. Amon took off running in the direction the shots had come from and Nagira tailed behind.

"What do we do?" Nate shouted, still unsure of where Robin was.

"Just keep looking for the real witch." Robin answered back, finally braving an attempt at running to another spot. She ran as fast as she could towards a tree that was further away from the battle. She needed to be able to see what was going on. She dove behind the tree, wincing in pain as she felt a bullet graze her right arm. Looking down, she saw blood coming from the wound and covered it with her left hand.

Finally, Amon reached where the battle was taking place. Looking around, he saw Nate behind a tree holding his left arm which was bleeding badly. Shaking his head, he continued to look around. He wasn't there for Nate...where in the hell was Robin? On second thought, where in the hell was the witch?

Nagira joined Amon by his side, a serious look on his face. "Where's the witch?"

"I don't know..." Amon said as he crept over to a tree while drawing his gun, Nagira doing the same.

"Hey, Amon, isn't this kind of strange?" Nagira whispered.

"What do you mean?" he asked as he turned to look at his brother.

"I mean, it's pretty quiet, like we're at a standstill...but why? So far, we've only heard gun shots. Why hasn't Robin taken this guy out yet?...Hey, where is Robin for that matter?" Nagira asked, his eyes going wide as he realized he hadn't seen the fire witch yet.

Not answering, Amon turned to his right to look around the tree and saw...a person chanting. He finished chanting and as soon as he did, Amon heard more gun shots. He turned around to look on his left and saw Nate shooting at a shadow of the man chanting. He was projecting a false image of himself to throw them off...

"It would appear to be a game of cat and mouse. I think he's playing with them..." Amon said as he began to survey the area to try and locate Robin again.

"Yeah, but he doesn't know there are two dogs about to enter the game, now does he?" Nagira said slyly before running off. Turning back to his right, he took aim and fired. The bullet hit the man in the right side of his chest, badly injuring him. The man looked up, shocked.

"Who are you?" he shouted angerly.

Amon came out from behind the tree and took aim again. The man moved pretty quickly for someone who had just been shot, Amon thought to himself, as his target got up and ran behind a tree. Running to the next tree, he peaked out from behind it to see if he could spot the hunter but saw nothing. He heard nothing...all was quiet. He didn't like that. Figuring the hunter was badly inured, he slowly made his way, gun drawn, towards where he had disappeared.

He reached the tree and threw himself around it...but no one was there. He saw a pool of blood but no trail leading off somewhere else. What in the hell?

He heard gun shots again, this time coming from towards where Nate was and Nagira had disappeared off to. He ran, full force, towards the gun shots and saw Nagira facing off against the hunter. The hunter, still standing miraculously enough, fired off a shot forcing Nagira to jump behind a tree. Calmly, Amon took aim and fired off one final shot. The man dropped to the ground, blood pooling around his head.

"Holy shit, that guy was bleeding all over the place." Nagira said as he walked over to the guy, looking down with an odd look on his face. "Ew, disgusting..." he said, scrunching his face up.

"Then don't look..." Amon said stoically. Without even glancing back, Amon walked off, fear rising up into his throat.

"Robin?" he called, wanting nothing more than to hear her voice.

Gasping, Robin peaked out from behind the tree she was behind. Was that Amon?

"Am...Amon?" Robin walked out from behind the tree, unsure of what would happen. "Is that you?"

Turning in the direction her voice came from, Amon took off running. He rounded yet another tree and there she was. As soon as he saw her, the tightness in his chest began to dissipate.

He ran to her and immediately took her in his arms, everything that was pent up inside of him getting the better of him. As he wrapped his arms around her, he felt her wince and pulled back. Noticing the wound on her arm, his eyes widened.

"Robin, are you okay? What happened?" he asked softly.

"I'm okay, it's just...I'm glad you're here." she said as she looked up at him, her eyes filling with tears.

"Come on, lets go home." he said as he took her left hand in his. He lead her over towards where Nagira was and told him to take care of Nate. He didn't want to wait around, he just wanted to take his little bird home.

_Ah, tis time for another update. I'm also working on the next chapter and hope to have it up in...hm, about an hour and a half. No later than that, hopefully, since I'm going to see the Corpse Bride and won't be back until tomorrow since I'm staying with my Gram tonight. Thanks to those who read and review and especially to those who read my story regularly. _

As usual, please read and review. :)


	19. Soft Truth

Amon opened the front door for Robin and watched as she walked by him. It felt like it had been forever since he last saw her, like they had been separated for years. 

"Robin, we..."

"Amon, I heard what happened from James, are you two okay?" a feminine voice called from the stairs. Looking up, Amon saw Aideen running towards him and his gaze immediately went to Robin. He watched as her eyes glazed over and her face became expressionless. Aideen ran to his side and placed a hand on his shoulder before she touched his face. Despite this, Amon's gaze remained on Robin.

"Oh Amon, where did these bruises come from?" Aideen asked softly. Robin turned her head towards Amon at this, her eyes centering on the small cuts and bruises that had made his face their home since his fight with Nagira.

Shaking Aideen off, Amon walked towards Robin. He put his hand on her right shoulder lightly before turning back to Aideen. "I need to take care of Robin now." He then directed Robin towards the stairs and made his way towards his room, not glancing back even once.

He, again, opened the door for her and gently guided her in and to his bed. He walked into his bathroom and took out what he'd need to care for her wound and made his way back to her. As he kneeled before her, he looked up into her face and saw her looking back down at him with a small smile playing on her lips. Upon seeing this, he fought back the urge to smile back at her but felt happier nonetheless.

"What happened?" he asked quietly as he touched her wound gently.

"We...we were in the park when we were shot at. We couldn't find him, no matter where we looked he always seemed to...disappear." Robin recalled softly as she watched Amon examine her wound.

"I'm going to need to tear your sleeve, is that okay?" Amon asked, looking up into her eyes. Shaking her head, she watched as he gently tore off her sleeve so he could clean out her wound. She winced slightly when he started to clean off the blood but remained quiet.

After he finished, he looked up at Robin and watched as she smiled back down at him. She slowly raised her right hand up to his face and cupped his cheek, neither taking their eyes off of the other. He felt her rub his cheek gently with her thumb and closed his eyes.

"How did you get these bruises?" she asked softly, still rubbing his cheek.

"That isn't important." he answered, never opening his eyes.

"Yes it is, you got them just today. They're still fresh. What happened, Amon?"

Sighing, Amon opened his eyes to stare into her's. "Nagira and I...we had a small fight. It's okay though." he added when he saw her eyes widen a bit.

"Oh." was all she said before she grabbed his large hand in her small one and lifted him up as she stood. She turned so that he was forced to turn with her and then lightly pushed him so he'd sit down on the bed.

"My turn. You take care of my wounds, I take care of your's." Robin said gently, still smiling at him.

Putting her left hand on his face to steady it, she carefully wiped off the blood from his cuts. She kept her eyes on the cuts she was tending to but could still feel Amon's gaze. Her heart sped up and the full realization of what had happened hit her. He turned away from Aideen and helped her...he was with her, not Aideen.

"There." she said quietly when she had finished. She took a step back but felt Amon's hand shoot out and grab her's. She looked down at him and saw warm, grey eyes looking up at her. She felt herself being pulled slowly towards him but kept her eyes on his. He then wrapped his left arm around her waist and pulled her down, onto his lap. She felt him put his head against her shoulder and heard him breathe in deeply. At that moment, she wanted nothing more than to turn around and hold him. Even though he had saved her, even though he was older, even though he was...Amon...he seemed to be nothing more than a child who needed love and attention right then. Everyone needs someone...

As Amon sat there, his head against Robin's shoulder, her in his lap, he realized, for the first time, he really needed her. Before, he had thought there was a way around it, that he, somehow, had developed a crush on her and it was only a temporary fancy; something out of a fantasy. He had been wrong before and all the pain, confusion, and loneliness he had felt, he had caused. He didn't doubt his feelings anymore nor did he doubt what she meant to him. She made him feel things no one ever had and she certainly had a way of terrifying the hell out of him. It was as though she were the most precious and valuable thing on the planet. Nothing equalled her, not in beauty, not in intelligence, not in strength. But...she was still so fragile, so young. She needed protecting, that's why she alone managed to frighten him. The fear was similar to that of what a father experiences when watching his daughter take her first steps, afraid she'll fall and get hurt, only, his feelings weren't of a fatherly type.

"I'm sorry" was all he could say. He couldn't think of anything else at the moment and not even that seemed to do.

"It's alright." Robin whispered back, turning and tilting her head so that she could rest her cheek on the top of his head. Upon feeling this, Amon carefully moved so that he could guide her to lay back against his chest so she, too, could be comfortable in their embrace. And there they sat, in the quiet, enjoying one another's company; Robin in Amon's lap, curled into a ball against his chest and Amon holding his entire world in his arms, fully and completely for the first time.

Panting, Nagira finally came through the front door with Nate.

"Aw, I'm going to kill Amon if I find out he left me there and still hasn't patched things up with Robin..." he muttered under his breath so that Nate couldn't hear him. "I should probably take this guy upstairs to his room...well, to James's room for some medical attention of...some sort...aw, but it's so far..." he continued muttering to himself, taking a sluggish step forwards, dragging Nate behind. Looking over, he saw Nate breathing heavily and looking more like a drunk as time passed. "Must have lost a lot of blood...here we go, one step at a time..." Nagira panted, taking yet another step forward.

Finally reaching the stairs, Nagira looked up and thought, for a second, he was looking at a mountain. "Don't be silly, you've...walked up these steps...a million times..." he breathed. Sticking his tongue out slightly in concentration, he took one step up...and lost his balance. Nate fell to the floor with a groan and Nagira fell forward with a loud "Wah!" Rolling over onto his back, Nagira yelled out for James and decided he AND Nate may need help up the stairs.

Robin jumped a bit in Amon's arms and turned her head towards the door. "What was that? It sounded like Nagira..."

"Probably, he's bringing Nate home."

"Oh, I forgot about Nate, was he okay?" Robin asked worriedly, surprised by her own selfishness.

"He was fine, Nagira will take care of it." Amon said, hoping Robin wouldn't insist upon going to him. He felt Robin stir, then sit up in his lap. His heart sped up when he thought she was going to get up and leave but slowed back down as she turned to face him and simply smiled.

"Alright." she answered softly.

He placed one hand on her cheek and leaned in to kiss her. It felt so liberating to be able to do that, to be able to kiss her and not feel dirty for kissing a girl he wasn't even with knowing she wanted to be with him more than anything. He was her's and she was his, it was okay, everything was okay now...

Still panting, Nagira made his way back the hall towards his room. "Stupid stairs, stupid guns, stupid hunters with nothing better to do than hunt innocent people...yeah, let's kill all witches, mass genocide is great...in the name of God we shall murder you...morons, that's what they are...a bunch of...uh...Amon?" he whispered to himself upon seeing his brother exit Robin's room...smiling? Now, that isn't something you see every day...

"Get some sleep." he heard Amon say before leaning in to tenderly kiss a smiling Robin who, in turn, kissed back. He watched as she shut the door and Amon turned towards his room...stopping mid turn to see Nagira.

"Well, well, well, you certainly don't see THAT every day...he he he, Amon and Robin sitting in a tree..." Amon turned away and walked towards his room, ignoring his brother's taunting.

"K-i-s-s-i-n-g, first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Amon with a baby carriage! Wait, Amon, come back!" he called. "I just wanna know, are you two together or not?"

Amon opened his door, turned his head in Nagira's direction, gave him a cocky smirk, and then went inside.

"Hey! I asked a question, I want an answer! I just wanna make sure this isn't a one-kiss stand sort of thing like before. Inquiring minds need to know!" Nagira shouted childishly.

"Hey! Ototo!"

_And here's the fluffiness. I had this chapter already started when I posted the previous chapter but I ran out of time. I stayed at my Gram's until Sunday then volunteered at the library from 5PM until 8PM yesterday. Today, I have to meet my teachers because my Dad is insisting upon it despite it being a totally asinine idea. It's kind of like an open house thing for the cyber school students...-Shrugs- Then, I have to go back to the library on Thursday, study on Friday, and take my SAT on Saturday. This week is one big pain in the ass...hopefully, after this week is over I won't have too much homework to catch up on and I can figure out where I want to take my story next. :)_

_As usual, please read and review. Much thanks to those who have and those who do. :)_


	20. Family Outing

Everything lightened up after that. Robin and Amon were together, Nagira was thrilled he didn't have to worry about Aideen butting in anymore, Nate got over his loss of Robin, James was still blind to everything that had happened, and Aideen…well, she'll get over it, Nagira thought to himself as he shoveled a pile of eggs into his mouth during breakfast. 

It had been a little over a week since Robin and Amon finally got together. Things felt lighter, as though a tremendous weight had been lifted. Tension was no longer present amongst the trio of travelers and that's the way they liked it.

"How 'bout we go somewhere?" Nagira asked unexpectedly, causing Amon and Robin to turn towards him.

"What do you mean?" Robin asked, her eyebrows coming together slightly in confusion. It was such a vague question.

"I mean, we've been sticking pretty close to the house only taking small walks here and there. Why don't we just get out and make a day of it? Have some fun?" he explained, pushing his plate away from him and leaning back in his chair.

Robin glanced at Amon, not sure of what to say. Despite being together, she still looked to him for approval, to see his reaction. She wasn't the type to pull Amon around without asking his opinion and she wasn't sure she'd _ever_ be that type of person.

Picking up on her glance and its subtle meaning, Amon shook his head, giving her the okay. As long as Robin was happy, he was happy.

"What did you have in mind?" Amon asked turning his attention to his brother.

"Mm, what about..." Nagira glanced over at the newspaper James had left laying on the table before darting off to his office to answer the phone. Picking it up, he glanced through it to see if anything caught his eye. Glancing in Amon's direction, Nagira's eyes glittered mischievously.

_They buy me all these icies.  
Dolce & Gabbana,  
Fendi and NaDonna Karan, they be sharin'  
All their money got me wearin' fly But I ain't askin,  
They say they love my ass 'n,  
Seven Jeans, True Religion's,  
I say no, but they keep givin'  
So I keep on takin'  
And no I ain't taken We can keep on datin'  
I keep on demonstrating_

Grinning, Nagira glanced over at Amon as he drove, just catching Amon's glare before he turned his attention back to the road.

"What's wrong, lil bro?"

"If you must listen to the radio could you at least change the station?" Amon asked in annoyance. What type of music was that anyways?

"Aw, come on, it's good!" Nagira retorted childishly. At this, Amon reached over to change the station when Nagira slapped his hand away.

"No party pooping this time, sit back and relax!" he said, sticking his tongue out and tapping his hands on the dashboard to the beat.

_My love, my love, my love, my love You love my lady lumps,  
My hump, my hump, my hump,  
My humps they got u,  
She's got me spending.  
(Oh) Spendin' all your money on me and spending time on me.  
She's got me spendin.  
(Oh) Spendin' all your money on me, up on me, on me_

Sighing, Amon resigned himself to the fact that he'd have to suffer through the remainder of the drivel that was blasting its way through the speakers. Looking into the rearview mirror, Amon caught Robin's eyes on the back of his head. He could see them glittering, her mouth upturned in a broad yet cute smile. She was obviously amused by their exchange which made listening to whatever his brother stuck on next more than worth it.

"If this is how you react to music, I can't wait to see what you do once we get to the zoo!" laughed Nagira.

_What you gon' do with all that junk?  
All that junk inside that trunk?  
I'ma get, get, get, get, you drunk,  
Get you love drunk off my hump.  
What u gon' do with all that ass?  
All that ass inside them jeans?  
I'm a make, make, make, make you scream Make u scream, make you scream.  
Cos of my hump, my hump, my hump, my hump.  
My hump, my hump, my hump, my lovely lady lumps. (Check it out)_

Amon got out of the car followed by Nagira and Robin, glad to be away from the horrid sounds being emitted from the radio. His brother had horrible tastes. Instinctively, he made his way to Robin and took her hand, a sight that still gave Nagira goosebumps.

"May I ask why you chose the zoo of all places?" Amon asked, not bothering to look anywhere but straight ahead.

"Well, it's a fun atmosphere and I figured our little bird has probably never been to one. Have you little bird?"

Looking to Nagira, Robin, with a small smile, shook her head no before saying, "It should be fun." in her usual soft voice. Yet again, that was enough for Amon.

Together, they approached the entrance where a man with a colorful jacket was selling bands.

"How many, sir?" he asked to neither Amon or Nagira in particular.

"Three." Amon stated, handing over some money he had taken out of his pocket.

"Alrighty then!" the man cheerfully replied, ripping off three bands and making to fasten one to Amon's wrist.

Sighing, Amon offered up his arm while thinking to himself, "Robin, Robin, this is for Robin...Robin wanted to come too...She's never been to the zoo, this is her chance to have some fun..." After the man had finished, Amon stepped back and glanced over at Robin who still had a smile on her face. Definitely worth it. How many times had he thought that today? He was going soft...

Nagira stepped up next and as soon as the man had finished with him, he caught sight of Robin. "Ah, little lady, your turn. Give me your wrist please." he said as a goofy smile appeared on his face. It was amazing how the simple sight of Robin could turn almost any man into a fool.

"Ah, finished! Have a nice day!" the man said waving as they passed.

"Let's see, what's up first?" Nagira said to himself. Taking out a map, Nagira squinted and read out loud the options closest to them. And that's how the day started...Nagira and Robin leading Amon around from animal cage to animal cage. It wasn't as bad as he thought it'd be and while the animals were beautiful and some downright ugly, Amon's attention was almost completely on Robin. She was just so happy...the sun was shining down on her and, as he stared at her for what must have been the hundredth time that day, he realized how nice it was to have a family. He then turned to look at his brother, the only blood relation he had and finally realized just how bad he needed them _both_.

Robin looked over to Amon and wondered what he was thinking about. He had the oddest and yet, calmest, expression she had ever seen him wear. She squeezed his hand lightly and, as he turned to look her way, sweetly kissed him on the cheek.

"I'm a bit thirsty, do you think we could get something to drink?" she asked, looking him in the eyes, something she didn't always feel comfortable doing before. How nice it felt to be able to do that...

Not one to deny Robin what she wanted, he shook his head yes and walked with her to the nearest vending machine. And, believe it or not, that's how the rest of the day passed- pleasantly, a rare thing in the lives of the traveling trio.

_Sorry for the long wait and thanks to those who waited for me to update. I know I said on my profile page that I'd write as much as I could before putting everything up all at once but I figured I'd be better off just going with the flow and the flow told me to post this chapter. -Laughs- I meant this to be somewhat fluffy and more amusing than anything else. I needed to add in a bit of fun for my newly named "Traveling Trio"...no idea where that came from but it'll probably stick for some things._

I have about three or four more ideas for stories and, while I desperately want to work on them, I decided it was better to work on this story...to at least finish one chapter. That way, I don't mix them because I've realized there are differences in my style of writing from one to the next. I'd hate to mess them up. :)

As usual, please read and review!


	21. Where We Stand

He rubbed his hands over the smooth, dark tabletop in front of him nervously, attempting to slow the beating of his heart. When that didn't work, to keep his hands occupied, he reached inside of his overcoat and took out a single cigarette and a lighter, lit it, and took a puff. Tilting his head back and exhaling, he watched as the smoke floated up high above him, up until it could go no higher. He stared at one of the lights above his head and watched as the smoke just hung there and then tilted his head back down to look at the person sitting across from him. 

Amon, meeting his brother's gaze, had a frown plastered on his face. They were seated in a dimly lit office, at a large, dark table, awaiting everyone else's arrival. James had called from wherever he was and told them to wait for him in a conference room of sorts, a room they hadn't been in until today. The table seated eight people, three on each side and one at each head. Upon entering, Nagira went to the left side of the table and took the furthest seat from the door, next to the head. Amon took the corresponding seat on the right side of the table and Robin sat next to Amon on his left. No longer were they happy and carefree, instead, they were serious and anxious. About two weeks ago, they were at the zoo, having fun, living life like normal people…and yet it felt like it was a lifetime ago.

Nagira puffing on his cigarette and tapping his fingers on the tabletop, the clock ticking, the wind blowing outside…the silence was deafening, something had to be done.

"What do you think he wants?" Nagira asked, his voice sounding serious and quiet.

"It must be something important, he didn't sound quite right on the phone." Amon answered. "Maybe he's found something…"

"I don't know if I should say 'I hope he has' or 'I hope he hasn't' at this point." Nagira responded quietly.

Just then, the door opened and all three turned their heads to see who was entering the study. It was Aideen. Upon entering, Aideen froze in the doorway, her gaze going straight to Amon and Robin. She looked briefly at Robin and then made eye contact with Amon, holding her gaze firmly on him. He stared back, suddenly hell bent on not being the first to turn away no matter how much he wanted to. Instead, he simply reached under the table and grabbed Robin's hand, Robin turning to look at him questioningly. Aideen gave a little sigh and a "hmpf" and then took the seat on Nagira's right despite the unfriendly look he was giving her.

Thankfully, not long after that, Nate and Sarah entered, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had clouded the room. Nate ran one of his hands through his hair as he made his way to the chair next to Aideen as Sarah filled the final seat on Robin's left. Robin glanced over at her friend, worried that not even Sarah's face held her usual smile. Feeling Robin's gaze, she turned her head to look back at her and forced a small smile onto her face.

"Hi, I haven't seen you much lately"

"No," Robin answered, "I haven't seen you around the house lately, how have you been? Well, I hope."

"As well as one _can_ be in such a situation." she sighed.

Before Robin could ask what was wrong, the door opened again and James entered with his laptop and several thick folders. Avoiding their gazes, he walked to the head of the table and took his seat. As he settled in, everyone waited patiently. And finally…

"Ah, good morning…" James said sounding worn. "I've been working tirelessly for the past two weeks, trying to figure out what has happened to the missing Solomon hunters. I haven't been able to find what's happened to them or where they are but, and this is merely speculation…I think their disappearance is too fishy, it must have something to do with Robin and the destruction of the FACTORY in Japan. Amon, I'm sure you've already thought of this before my mentioning it, as have I, but I was waiting, hoping, I could find something to confirm it…or otherwise."

He sighed before continuing on. "Basically, I can't find anything and I don't think I will. They're hiding something and they're doing a good job of it. I fear I'm failing you by simply sitting here and waiting so… Let me put something to you, and, please give me your opinions on it…" At this Amon and Nagira nodded. "Robin, your grandfather is Father Juliano, a retired hunter, correct?"

"Yes." Robin answered softly, her eyebrows coming together in concentration. Where was he going with this?

"Could you tell me about his involvement in your hunt, please?"

"He feared my power…that I would lose control…" Robin said quietly, tilting her head down so as to hide her face as she spoke. At that moment in time, she felt staring at her lap was the only way she could speak about her grandfather. "So he ordered a hunt on me…and eventually told Amon to complete the hunt… He later apologized and explained wh"

"Ah, so there's a possibility that he'd help?" James asked quickly, interrupting Robin.

"Wh..well, yes, I suppose…" Robin said, taken aback by James's question.

"What are you suggesting?" Amon asked suddenly.

"I'm having quite a hard time trying to locate any information on these hunters…after leaving a friend's house, empty handed yet again, something hit me. Robin came from Italy, she had to have some connections to HQ…caretakers, friends…and then it came to me- _family_. Word had spread that Robin's hunt was ordered by her own grandfather but I wasn't sure. Since I didn't know exactly where he stood, since it was only a rumor, I figured I'd ask. I had nothing to lose, really… If he really is sorry about what happened, maybe we can still consider him to be a friend and even an ally. Maybe we should look into contacting him somehow."

Amon took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly, staring down at the tabletop as he thought. The room was completely quiet except for the ticking of the clock which, once again, filled the silence. It felt like an eternity had passed before anyone said anything.

"What do you think Robin?" Hearing her name, Robin's head jerked up to see that Amon was staring at her, waiting for her answer. She sighed and looked back down at the table, her mind chewing on everything that it had just been fed.

"Well…" she started slowly. "He _did _seem remorseful that day he came to see me back in Japan…" At this, she looked back up to Amon to see his reaction.

He nodded his head and responded softly, "Yes, he did." Suddenly, it was as though they were the only two people in the room, the only two that mattered. What they wanted is what was important, they consulted each other- end of story.

"And we have nothing else to go on…" She looked Amon in the eyes, her own filling with tears. Suddenly, she was so sad…Amon caught this and frowned. He didn't like to see Robin upset.

"…We can't stay here…not like this…it's not safe and it's no way to live, running, always fearing what might be coming…" she whispered, her voice revealing the pain she was in.

All Amon could do was nod his head in the affirmative.

"So," James started, "I think the best route would be to find a place to stay in Italy and stay there. Whoever is attacking us clearly knows we're here."

"Yeah, we should get right on that." Nagira said, speaking for the first time since James entered the room. "I just want to get this all over with."

"Yes, but safely of course. We should be quick but careful." James looked at Aideen, Nate, and Sarah in turn. "Do any of you have any problems with the plan? If any of you want out, you may leave now." All three shook their heads no, indicating that they wanted to come along. "Alright, the first thing to do is to find a place we can all stay and the…"

"Whoa, isn't that going to be expensive? There are seven of us…" Nagira interrupted.

"Don't worry about it, I can take care of it." James winked with a smile.

Nagira, shaking his head and laughing, said, "If you say so."

Everyone rose and made their way out of the room but Robin and Amon stayed where they were. Nagira, chatting with James as he left, stopped and turned to see where Amon and Robin were. Seeing this, he continued on, deciding to leave them alone for a while. The chatter continued as everyone left but the solid oak door shutting muffled it and it eventually faded away so that only silence remained. Neither Amon nor Robin moved.

Robin's face was, yet again, pointed down towards the floor so Amon couldn't see her expression. Even though he couldn't see her face, he knew she was upset. Happy that no one was in the room, he reached over and took one of her hands from her lap and held it in his.

"Robin?" He questioned softly. He heard her take a deep breath in and then sigh. "Robin, are you okay?" She nodded her head. "Robin, I know something is wrong, you can't lie to me."

Holding her hand in his left hand, he turned his chair towards her so he could better see her. Using his right hand, he gently turned her head towards him. She was chewing on her bottom lip, trying to keep the tears in her eyes from spilling. Thinking of what to say, he rubbed her cheek with his thumb.

"Robin, everything is okay. We'll go to Italy and find your grandfather. He'll help us and then, once these hunters are dealt with, we'll be able to live, really live. Everything will be fine."

Robin sniffed, "Amon, we're running _again_. How long will we have to run? How long until we can just…_be_?" At this, Robin lost the hold she had over her tears.

Amon pulled her into a hug and just held her there, rubbing her back, and shushing her like a father would a baby.

"Robin, I know this is hard and I know you're tired of living like this but things could be much worse. We've still got each other"

"I know Amon, I know, but… Don't you ever want to just settle into one place and stay put? Live like a normal person?" Robin asked, no longer crying. "I've never…had a normal family…or a normal life. I've always been different, secluded from the rest of the world. I want now, more than ever, to know what it feels like to live, really _live_."

Amon pulled back away from Robin and took her face in his hands. Looking her directly in the eyes, he answered, "I never had a normal family either Robin…yes, I want to know what it feels like. I promise you, you will, one day, know what it feels like. We'll just have to fight for it. Can you do that? Can you fight on?"

She nodded her head and Amon gave her a small smile and kissed her on the forehead. "I knew you could." He then looked back down at her and leaned in for a kiss. Placing his lips upon hers, he felt her kiss back, a good sign that she wasn't as upset as she had been a few moments before. He deepened the kiss, taking full advantage of being alone. Robin felt him take their kiss to the next level and let him, let him take control, let him wash away all her fear and sadness. This is what she needed-- he is what she needed.

_Sorry for the long wait, I couldn't find the time to write and when I finally did my laptop broke down and everything was erased. I hope this chapter is alright, I had to work through my brother's noise so there may be some mistakes. If there are, feel free to point them out so I can fix them._

Thanks to everyone who has been reading and reviewing, I appreciate your input as well as your patience.


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